Goggle is taking on organised crime this time, convinced that crime fighting will have a bigger chance of neutralising the enemy with ample help from technology.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt pointed to Mexico's brutal war against the country's drug cartel, which to date has claimed the lives of more than 47,000 people since outgoing Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared war against drug trade six years ago.

But with killings and abductions continuing unabatedly and cartel members conducting their $US25 billion a year operations with seeming impunity, clearly the evil side is gaining the upperhand of the battle, the Google executive chairman said.

Speaking at the international crime summit organised by Google Ideas and held in California this week, Mr Schmidt offered what he believed is the best way to combat the waves of crimes that have been plaguing not only Mexico but a number of Latin American nations.

"For me the answer was obvious ... It was technology," Mr Schmidt was reported by The Associated Press (AP) as saying on late Wednesday.

He noted too that violence took so much toll on Mexicans that they now feel "defeated and helpless."

"These people have been so hardened in their experience with cartels that they have lost battles and they have lost hope," the Google executive stressed.

Mexican authorities have conceded that law enforcers in the country were practically waging a losing war against hardened criminals, who appeared many steps ahead of every police operations.

Crime experts said that apart from having more powerful weapons at their disposal, drug cartels also employ technology, specifically advance communication tools, to thwart efforts by police authorities to bust their operations.

This technological advantage is coupled with intimidation and cruel retaliation, with witnesses, informants or even police officers and family members ending up dead shortly after successful operations against the cartels, local authorities said.

According to Mr Schmidt, Google can plug the hole by using its technological assets to assist in the creation of a robust information channel that ordinary Mexicans can use in providing helpful information about the drug cartels.

Of course, the system must be secured enough for informants to anonymously and confidently file their reports without fear of harm or even death, Mr Schmidt said.

The same technique or other forms of interventions exploiting the benefits of technology can also be used to check on other criminal activities such as human and gun smuggling, illegal activities that were also attributed to drug cartels and their allied criminal gangs, Mr Schmidt added.

The Mexican government welcomed the suggestions and admitted that due to the high likelihood of being killed, only two out of 10 Mexicans would come forward and get involve in the fight against the drug cartels.

With high penetration of mobile phones in the country, the Google proposal may actually make a dent in the ongoing campaign against criminal groups, the government said.

But according to security expert Eduardo Guerrero, technology may prove lacking in punch to kill social plagues like the drug cartels.

"You should never underestimate the power of these guys ... They're probably even aware of what's going on here, and will figure out a way to use it to their advantage," Mr Guerrero told AP.

And Mr Schmidt can only agree as he allowed "at the end of the day, there really are bad people, and you have to go in and arrest them and kill them."