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Border Security and Drug Trafficking

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Border Security Introduction. The problem of drugs coming over into the United States from Mexico is not new, but it is serious and in spite of many efforts by American law enforcement and border authorities, it continues day after day. This paper reviews the problem from several perspectives and brings to light attempts the U.S. has made to stop drug trafficking on our border with Mexico. The biggest issue regarding border security is the power of the drug cartels, and the majority of emphasis in this paper is directed towards the cartels. Brief History of Smuggling Across the Border from Mexico Author Peter Andreas explains that a "wide range of smuggling practices" has been part of the "cross-border economic exchange since the nineteenth century," and hence the present-day smuggling of drugs across the border into the United States is not at all a new phenomenon (Andreas, 2012, p. 29). In fact Andreas explains that the economic relationship between the United States and Mexico "…was founded on smuggling," and today (as drugs move from south to north) things are opposite of what they were two hundred or so years ago when the smuggling went from north to south (Andreas, 29). The author notes that in 1821, about two-thirds of foreign goods that entered the country avoided / evaded customs duties (termed "contraband"). When the Mexican-American War ended in 1848, smuggling from Texas increased "sharply," Andreas explains on page 30. In fact the U.S. became a

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