Oscar Contreras-Velasco

My research leverages computational and statistical methods to study organized crime, migration, and violence.

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Davis. I received my Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

My research examines how criminal networks evolve, how criminal organizations produce and reproduce violence, and the risks migrants face while crossing contested territories. I also use spatial statistical methods to study the geographies of labor migration in the United States.

Selected publications

Uncovering hidden alliances in organized crime networks with machine learning: from node similarity to graph neural networks

Oscar Contreras-Velasco, Nathan P. Jones, Daniel Weisz Argomedo, John P. Sullivan & Chris Callaghan · 8: 101

Journal of Computational Social Science, 2025.

Unintended consequences of state action: how the kingpin strategy transformed the structure of violence in Mexico’s organized crime

Oscar Contreras Velasco · 28: 334–358

Trends in Organized Crime, 2025.

Research

Criminal networks & violence. The structure and evolution of criminal organizations, their alliances and conflicts, and the consequences of state interventions.
Migration & contested territories. The relationship between organized crime, territorial contestation, and risks for migrants at the U.S.–Mexico border, alongside the spatial patterns of labor migration.
Computational social science. Social network analysis, machine learning, and statistical methods for studying relationships, hidden ties, and spatial processes.

Teaching

University of California, Davis

Introduction to Social Statistics
Intermediate Social Statistics
Violence and Inequality