  Human trafficking is a heartless crime that represents the second most
profitable crime in the world. Mexico's geographical position makes it a
country with high levels of human trafficking. Using the snowball sampling
method, the major contribution of this paper is the abstraction of the human
trafficking network on the southern border of Mexico. Based on a social network
analysis, it is identified that the criminal network is moderately centralized
(44.32%) and with medium density (0.401). Therefore, the network has minimal
cohesiveness and members may find it difficult to share information, money, or
products among themselves. To evaluate different dismantling strategies to
tackle the criminal organization, three algorithms are evaluated. We found that
the first actors to be removed are neither the most connected nor the most
peripheral, but the actors who are moderately connected to people of their kind
should be removed. In summary, this paper provides a significant step forward
to understand quantitatively human trafficking networks and evaluate the limits
of dismantling strategies.
