Combating Mexican Drug Cartels

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.

Mexican drug cartels have been expanding its portfolios to include doing business in sex trafficking. The Zetas are the most feared drug cartel in Mexico’s drug, sex trafficking trade, and etc.; the Zetas are a criminal army made up of defectors from the Mexican military. Anybody who crosses them will more than likely get their heads chopped off or won’t live to see another day.

The situation in Mexico regarding the Drug Cartels has been an ongoing battle that has taken the life of between 30,000 to 40,000 civilians, cartels henchmen and federal employees. The violence has evolved into something new in recent years. The brutality contributed by the drug cartels could potentially be labeled as terrorist acts. The strong domestic conflict surrounding the drug cartel in Mexico has boiled over the border and into the United States. Illegal drugs enter the United States through various openings along the U.S- Mexican Border. There are nine important crossings, such as Tijuana-San Diego, Mexicali, and Ciudad Juarez-El Paso. From Texas to Southern California, these drugs are handed out throughout the United States via

To begin, The U.S. for decades, has been a target for major drug trafficking. Between the 1960’s and 1980’s, Mexico was a well traveled country, in which it brought to rise the Columbian drug-cartel into Mexico, led by Pablo Escobar and Ochoa Vasquez. Mexican gangs were being used to transport the number one selling drug at the time, cocaine. This led to the formation of the Sinaloa Cartel, the Juarez Cartel, Los Zetas and many more. The U.S. has been developing strategies to try and capture narco lords.

Since 2008, the United States and Mexico have worked collaboratively to combat drug trafficking across their shared border. The State Department’s current position on the situation is to to support continued cooperation with Mexico and collaborate on strategies to increase security and create policy measures that strengthen the rule of law. The State Department divides the United States’ strategy for combatting drug trafficking into four strategies: targeting cartels and their operations, aiding the Mexican government in their efforts, improving border security to efficiently facilitate trade and counter illegal operations, and defend and strengthen communities.1 However, the United States’ foreign policy measures with Mexico, including bilateral agreements and operations, have been criticized for failing to produce results and exacerbating the situation.

Critics outside and inside of Mexico who are witness to the casualties of the Mexican War on Drugs are keen to blame Felipe Calderon’s administration (the Mexican government) for the escalation of conflict within the country starting in 2006; arguing that the fast militarization and the lack of the state’s strength augmented such conflict. In the article “Did the Military Interventions in the Mexican Drug War Increased Violence?” by Valeria Espinosa and Donald B Rubin; the statistics analysts, studied two articles from a leading Mexican magazine Nexos, both with the same conclusion, “that military interventions had increased homicide rates in those states where intervention took place” (Espinosa and Rubin, 17). The results, although it was

The United States role with Mexico’s drug cartel violence problem has been of ongoing help. The cartels are unabashed in trying to continue to run their drug smuggling operations. The Mexican people have had to endure a high number of homicides in their country. Some of these people killed were innocents who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Many of the homicides were intentional as drug cartels often send messages to people warning others not to interfere in their businesses. Mexican law enforcement officials are killed by the cartel in hopes of serving a message to others that the cartels are to be feared. It might seem that the United States does not have a role in addressing drug cartel violence in Mexico but they are trying to help in many ways.

Over the past decade drug cartels has had a free flow through Central America to import illegal drugs to the U.S. Even with a strict drug policy drugs are still crossing the Mexican border. Due to corruption and political influence drug cartels are able to manipulate the government to go undetected. The drug cartel is infamous for their ability to kidnapped, corrupt, and kill anyone trying to crackdown or expose any operation. Due to this corruption within local governments drug activity has been able to flourish causing countless lives of innocent people.

This research paper examines the impact of Mexican drug cartels in the United States. Most Americans are not aware of how far reaching these cartels are in the United States. Their power has an influence in our government and communities. This project examines who the Mexican Drug cartels are, what their purpose is, where they have influences, and when did they start to become a problem for the United States. This paper also touches base on the impact of the drugs that are illegally brought into the United States by these cartels and their methods for justice. These cartels generate billions of

There are forms of Illegal trade that come across state borders which violates states legal control of their borders which is drug smuggling. In the region of North America lies a state that faces struggles everyday with a organization called Sinaloa Cartel. They face battles against this organization for control of the drug market within the state. This cartel plays a huge role within the state by having a huge influence in power compared to other the organizations in the state.

Cities on both sides of the Mexican-American border are continuously terrorized by drug cartels as a way to keep control over shipping routes and silence from citizens. (Wilkinson 2008) In 2010 an employee of the United States Embassy in Mexico was murdered along the Mexico-American border. This added tension to the ongoing drug trafficking problem and raised the issue of Mexico’s inability to control its own borders. Felipe Calderon, the President of Mexico, stated that he is seeking a stronger relationship with the United States. The effects of this relationship can be seen on the streets with the intensified level of violence against the drug cartels and the effectiveness of the government. (Dresser 2009)

Drug cartels quickly grew due to corruption and continued to grow unharmed. Local police forces protect the drug cartels. The drug cartels are also well-funded and heavily armed. In 2006, Mexico saw the effect that drugs were having on their country and began the war on drugs. Prohibition done by the United States and Mexico against drugs has led to the growth of the black market and drug cartels in Mexico. Even though laws permit people from possessing or consuming the drug many still demand the narcotic. During the past years of the war on drugs 60,000 Mexicans were killed. The war on drugs has been questioned if they were winning or if the war could ever be won. Drug laws remain ambiguous and their enforcement unclear. The government is focusing more on petty drug crimes and consumers. In 2009 they reformed drug laws allowing for a small possession of drugs and shifting it from federal to state control. They have continued to slowly ease off harsh laws they had on drugs hoping it will diminish the violence that started with the war on drugs. The presence of federal forces has increased violence in Mexico. There has been a move towards United state style drug courts in hopes that it will alleviate the overloaded criminal justice system. Even though the judicial system will stay overloaded with cases this will hopefully also lead to people possessing and consuming the drugs to get treatment. 57.8% of

The drug cartels don 't only smuggle drugs across the US border but smuggle firearms in which come from the American black markets as it is extremely difficult for Mexicans to purchase firearms in Mexico City (Astorga & Shirk, 2010). Due to the Mexican Cartels gaining access to firearms and their groups growing in numbers it has made it difficult for the authorities to try and take down the organisations. Also the more the authorities get involved the more that the cartels take it upon themselves to pursue public killings, mass killings, torture, kidnaps, threats, and use the media to in retaliation to the authorities attempting to take down their businesses (Stewart, 2011).

This truly brought to light for the first time the issues surrounding the border and the security threat the drug trade was and is still is to the United States (Payan, 23). The U.S. and Mexico are very connected via economic and demographic involvement and cross-border interaction. The United States Government truly sees the drug war in Mexico as a problem that takes U.S. Policy and assistance to combat; because homeland security is greatly threatened and the demand for drugs is coming from the United States. The Mérida Initiative is an agreement between the Mexican and United State’s governments to tackle the war on drugs the countries face, focusing on four main pillars. Essentially, through U.S. funding and guidance, The Mérida Initiative aims to tackle organized crime, reform and sustain laws, improve and support human rights, strengthen communities, and reform the border control to meet the standards necessary to prevent illegal drug smuggling and immigration into the United States. Through the Mérida Initiative, the United States can support Mexico in training law enforcement officials and maintaining lawfulness, and perhaps most importantly, bringing border security into the modern

The War On Drugs has been an incredibly long, ineffective and costly initiative aimed at stemming the flow of illegal drugs into the United States with a specific focus on the well-worn trafficking paths snaking inward from south of the Mexican border. The failure of the War is perhaps best reflected in the incredible carnage and violence which continue to grip key border regions like Juarez. This territory, controlled by the notorious Juarez cartel, is the site of ongoing turf wars with rival drug peddlers, the Sinaloa Cartel, as well as with law enforcement and paramilitary groups of varying degrees of corruption. Lawmakers partnered in the United States and Mexico have been absolutely flummoxed over how to address the current state of affairs, which is in a decided state of intensification. Evidence suggests, however, that contrary to the strategy of heightened militancy taken on by both federal governments, the real path to better enforcement against the cartel is to disrupt the steady influx of guns and military-grade weaponry.