Due to drugs-related gang violence since 2006, when Mexican President Felipe Calderón entered office, more than 100,000 people have been killed (CNN Library, 2017). Among the major Mexican cartels - Los Zetas Cartel, Gulf Cartel, La and La Familia Michoacana, the Sinaloa Cartel is the most dominant drug trafficking organization in Mexico with an increasing presence in the United States. Roughly 80% of illegal substances like heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana are supplied by the Sinaloa Cartel (Woody, 2016). There have been several attempts of increased pressure from both the U.S. and Mexican governments to disrupt drug trafficking organizations and this has led to significant instability and violence escalating into a national security crisis.
The United States agency of drugs have discovered that for all of the illegal drugs consumed in the nation has been transported by the Mexican cartels. “U.S. federal officials say that the mexican cartels operate in dozens of U.S. cities and analysts say they are moving to consolidate their control of the entire supply chain of illegals drugs”(Schwartz, 1). The government of the United States have been conducting the investigation to now if the cartels are north. Many big cities today have a piece of the cartel organization working there and also producing drugs to distribute within the city. According to the investigation done by the DEA and U.N officials “Mexican cartels have established command - and - control centers to orchestrate cocaine shipments by sea and air along the still wild caribbean coast with the help of local authorities”(Booth, 2). All though that the cartel are moving to the United States they are still leaving command center in mexico to conduct shipments by ground or any other shipments overseas. The cartel is able to transport such quantities of drugs with help of the local authorities and other corrupt government officials.
The United States have declared that it is doing its best to combat the war on drugs. The drug problem has not stopped and the people continue to buy drugs no matter what circumstances they are obtained. With drugs prices rising, people are willing do anything to get drugs even if it leads them to become involved in criminal activities such as robbery. The money and military activity have not been enough, and the “urban problem,” has not been resolved. The United States has the largest demand of drugs in the world. While other countries also face the drug problem, the United States has spent the most money and law enforcement; however, its effectiveness is questionable. Consequently, now there is a great amount of drugs coming from Mexico’s borderline into the United States. The drug cartels have become more violent, killing Mexican officers and innocent people in order to smuggle their drugs. The United States needs more security control and better coordination between agencies to fight the violent Mexican drug war spilling across the southern border. There is not enough organization between the D.E.A and other groups such as the Department of Homeland Security. The United States has little hope of winning the war unless enough protection on the border and Border States are developed. The agencies need better coordination between the federal, state and locals agencies in order to prevent more drugs to cross
The Sinaloa Cartel is the premier drug trafficking organization in Mexico. The cartel is based out of Sinaloa, Mexico. Unlike many of the Mexican cartels, the Sinaloa Cartel exports large quantities of multiple drugs into the United States. Pablo Escobar is considered one of the most notorious drug lords in history. Escobar’s cartel was only in charge of exporting cocaine into the United States. The Sinaloa Cartel exports cocaine, methamphetamines, and marijuana into the United States. The leader of the Sinaloa Cartel is Joaquin “el chapo” Guzman. While El Chapo is a very well-known international drug kingpin, he has proven that he is almost as good at escaping from prison. El Chapo has multiple prison escapes under his belt. He most recently escaped from the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1, which is a maximum security prison in Mexico.
The extent of drug cartel’s economic dependency on U.S. and other foreign buyers shields individual empires from oppression and the threat of rival groups. As the percent of cocaine being transported into the US raises from 77 percent to more than 90 percent, drug cartels are becoming stronger and more widespread (Lee n. pag.). With the rapidly escalating number of U.S. cocaine sales, Mexican mafias profit immensely. These cash profits fund all cartel activities including the
According the US Drug Enforcement Administration, Sinaloa Cartel is the largest and most powerful drug trafficking syndicates in the world, is an alliance of some of Mexico’s top capos based in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico. The state has long been recognized as major which involved in illegal drug industry as home to marijuana and poppy crops. (www.insightcrime.org) By the early 21st century the cartel had operations in more than 50 countries but was particularly dominant in the United States. (Tikkanen, 2016) The Sinaloa Cartel was responsible for the majority of illegal drugs notably marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines were smuggled from Mexico then the cartel remains the main controlling the most U.S states. In the mid 1990s,
The most activity that these cartels do is around the United States and Mexican border by transporting illegal substances and even people and putting many people in danger not just in Mexico but in the United States. But also the economy is being hurt because the United States losing about one point six million dollars annually to these cartels contributing to smuggling and the U.S is number drug using country all around the world. While more and more smuggling is happening cartel kingpin for example Joaquin Guzman is getting more powerful and being the number one supplier to Chicago that most of these narcotics are being distributed. Statistics of that came from the DEA reports that cartel presence in the United States cities are getting bigger from the years of two-thousand-eight to twenty-eleven climbing the scale to twelve hundred on the number of reports from American communities that suspected narcotics presence. Making the struggle to make communities more secure but organizations that are not affiliated to the government are helping to get rid all this problematic situations with cartels such as the Chicago Crime
Mexico has a long history of cartels the deaths, drugs and weapon trafficking is in all time high increasing year by year. “Mexico's gangs have flourished since the late 19th century, mostly in the north due to their proximity to towns along the U.S.-Mexico border. But it was the American appetite for cocaine in the 1970s that gave Mexican drug cartels immense power to manufacture and transport drugs across the border. Early Mexican gangs were primarily situated in border towns where prostitution, drug use, bootlegging and extortion flourished” (Wagner). They keep themselves armed and ready with gun supplies shipped from the U.S, taking control of the drug trades. The violence is spilling so out of control that
Everyone is aware of the ongoing drug war between American border patrol agents who wish to fulfil their duty which is to defend the border and Mexican cartels who seek only to expand their narcotic empire at the United States and Mexican border. The Mexican cartels are often times defined as ruthless outlaws who infiltrate and distribute narcotics into the United States in order to maintain high prices and eliminate competition. Their methods are immoral and executed with ease because of their access to heavy artillery. As a result, “Since 2006 more than 40,000 lives have been taken via mass graves, beheadings, and kidnappings” (Newsmax 2). Fear is at the core of the Mexican government leading to corruption installed by the cartels. The corruption is to a degree to which there is no help for the victims or the families that have been victimized unless America steps in to help end the cartel’s reign. Drug culture created by the cartels is increasingly polluting American citizens, especially those vulnerable to the influence in border cities. The cartels are expanding their power to a degree where it can be alarming to the national security of the U.S. Therefore, the U.S. will be able to decrease crime at the border by increasing its security, and by helping the Mexican government regain stability in the country which will ultimately minimize cartel expansion.
The War on Drugs has devastated Mexico’s socio-economic infrastructure while failing to stop the manufacturing and trafficking of drugs, both domestically and internationally.
Strategies mean nothing in the war on Mexican cartels if the U.S. Government does not get to the root of the issue. As long as there is a demand for drugs in the United States, the cartels will find a way around any security measure. Border protection agents are seeing a steep decline in the trafficking of marijuana since the U.S. legalized the drug. Many think that ending prohibition of illicit drugs is the answer. Right now, America is not winning the war on drugs. The cost involved with prohibition is exuberant; over $50 billion spent in the war on drugs, which is a massive economic blunder (United States Department of Homeland Security, 2017). The focus should be a combination of prevention through education and cessation programs. To eliminate the demand, make the supply readily available on a legally-regulated market. This would curtail to the cartel market because the U.S. would allow production on U.S. soil. In the simplest terms, criminalizing drugs puts money back into the hands of the cartels while
Transnational criminal organizations have been an ongoing problem for some time and the War on Drugs has not really curtailed the amount of criminal drug activity flowing over to the United States. Likewise, Mexican traffickers have gained more control of the U.S. drug supply than any other ethnic criminal group (Chalk, 2011, 24). Specifically, Los Zetas, a paramilitary group, has become a significant force in bringing drugs and associated crime across the Mexican/United States border and extending their violent behavior into Texas and Arizona as well as a few other southwestern states. There has also been reporting of a push into the Midwest more recently. Therefore, it is not a matter of when the Zetas will breach our border areas but
As a child when my mother would travel to Mexico there was always minimal extortion, “mordidas” from the judiciales when crossing the boarders. The country seemed relatively safe at the time. The mordidas was a common incident for people who would travel from the United States to their home towns. My mother said that it was uncommon to hear about drugs, massacre, and executions. Nowadays, this is the new norm in Mexico .
The Sinaloa Cartel is considered the largest and wealthiest organized crime syndicate in the Western Hemisphere. Run by drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the Sinaloa Cartel is the biggest player in the Mexican drug trafficking trade. “Mexican drug trafficking is estimated by analysts to be worth $13 billion US a year,” according to the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC, 2015, par. 2). Heavily involved in the production and distribution of marijuana, cocaine and opium, the Sinaloa Cartel is also operates prostitution rings and deals in human trafficking. According to CBC, “analysts estimate that since 2006, 70,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence.” The Sinaloa Cartel is the United States Government’s biggest obstacle in the international war on drugs and its diabolical leader is once again free.
There is clearly a high demand for recreational drugs in the United States, and because of this drug cartels all through Mexico and South America have thrived for decades. This essay will explore some of the reasons why Mexican Cartels have thrived in the new Millennium creating a drug trade that is estimated to bring The Cartels over 3 billion dollars in profits this year alone. It will also explore the tactics used by both the United States and Mexico in combatting the illicit drug trade and the cartels that have their hands firmly in their control.
Drug trafficking has been an ongoing epidemic in the United States, as well us other countries for an unimaginable amount of time. Illegal drugs varying from heroin and cocaine are primarily the main drugs that get smuggled in the United States from South America. Even marijuana and methamphetamine have been popular in the drug smuggling “industry”. These gangs go to a variety of different extents to get the job done. Drug trafficking increases the violence levels These drugs have been smuggled through the Southwest Border since the 1970s and are attempting to expand the distribution of those drugs into eastern U.S. markets. The countries of drug production have been seen as the worst affected by prohibition. In many countries worldwide, the illegal drug trafficking can be directly linked to high violent crimes. This is especially true in third world countries, but has still been seen as an issue for many developed countries all over the world. Drug trafficking increases the risk of violence and crime due rise of addiction along with an increase of death. It also effects the along with correctional system effects.to its high costs, Nearly all of the heroin produced in Mexico is destined for distribution in the United States. Organized crime groups operating from Mexico produce, smuggle, and distribute various illegal drugs after trafficking them across the US border. Trafficking groups that operate from Mexico tend to avoid penalties by their stealthy methods of smuggling