Mexican Drug Cartels Analysis

Drug trafficking in Mexico has been a political and social issue over the past 30 or so years. Narcotics such as cocaine, heroin, methanphetamines, marijuana, as well as firearms are all being moved across the border of Mexico into the United States. In response to the illegal activity, both Mexican and American governments have started a war on drugs. The war on drugs is considered a “killing machine” by the International Socialist Review (ISR). The ISR provides statistics that, since 2009 and up to 2013, there had been almost 70,000 confirmed deaths that are related

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.

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.

What’s more these cartels’ will also use the kidnaped women and girls for their own personal use. Nevertheless, the spread of human trafficking in Mexico has declined, yet the biggest problem has moved into the Mexican mountains, where remote areas have little or no authority at all. These areas are where the cartel usually pays off the authorities. But, in the case

Mexico’s violence on drugs is constantly ongoing. Its imposes a security threat to the United States and threatens the stability of the Mexican state. Drug trafficking is not the only issue of mutual interest between the United States and Mexico but Mexico is the third most largest and important source of oil which has been dropping since 2005 (New York Times, Hanson, 2008). Violence is a major problem when it comes to its drug cartels. They have tried to double their police force to make sure military forces from involving themselves in the drug movement. Consumers have become very upset at the quality of the drugs they are receiving so that increases the violence. Due to the drug violence increasing so much that kids cannot play in their neighborhood due to fear and intimidation. It’s not a safe environment for their citizens

The country’s borders make the most important part in the process of reducing drug trafficking in the U.S. Drug law enforcement agencies face enormous challenges when it comes to

Substance abuse and consumption have become an epidemic in America. The use of drugs results in countless drug-related deaths and causes states to spend billions of dollars to combat drug trafficking. Drugs are shipped in by sea, air, automobile, and even smuggled in by person. These drugs are supplied by drug cartels. These criminal organizations where formed to promote, control, produce, and distribute narcotic drugs. While these cartels operate from all parts of the world, some of the most infamous are the Mexican and Columbian Cartels. America has put policies into combating drug trafficking, however these policies are not

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

“Organized crime had coopted practically all policing and spaces for the administration of justice” States Maldonado Aranda in Stories of Drugs in rural Mexico. The impact on the community is addiction rates are rising and rapes as well. AA groups have been taken over by the Cartel to help support themselves by recruitment for gunmen, also financially. (Maldonado Aranda, 2014) Young women are dragged by their own peers, then raped, again withthe silent violence they don’t have the agency to speak up about it. Who has stepped up to help is Dr. Jose Manuel Mireles Valverde, the founder of Autodefensas. Autodefensas is a militia in Mexico who fights the Knights of Templar Cartel in Michoacan.(Manzo, 2015) Dr. Valverde wanted to arm the citizens in small cities in Michoacan against the Cartels, I couldn't agree more. To find the perfect solution to helping the people, it’s needed to have field work completed then applied anthropology. I believe arming the citizens will give them more protection in day to day life. Arming the people can give them agency to start a civil war against the corrupt government controlled by the Cartel. I also believe the US government should get involved and have the freedom to expedite the Cartel leaders and gunmen to the states.I don’t think removing immigrants from their homes to the states will be effective. Removing the Cartels will let the people of

An author, Francisco E. Gonzalez, discussed one incident that took place, “A grenade attack on September 15, 2008, left eight dead and more than one hundred injured on the central square in Morelia (the capital of the state of Michoacán), on a night Mexicans were celebrating the 198th anniversary of their country’s independence.” (Gonzalez 72). This incident shows that safety is never guaranteed with the cartel’s violent and erratic behavior.

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

“For me personally, it’s been a nightmare, because I don’t see any way out now. The men who got inside my house put their guns to my neighbors’ heads—that’s including one six-year-old girl.” This is Mexican investigative journalists Anabel Hernandez’s response when asked about her safety and a recent home invasion directed toward her courtesy of the drug cartels.(Alexandrov) This is what it is like to lead a career as a journalist reporting on drug cartels in many latin American countries. The cartels influence on local and federal government in Mexico gives them the freedom to threaten and actively pursue journalists as targets with no retributions for their actions. This is leaving journalists like Hernandez defenseless and in danger, in the last ten years alone more than 80 journalists have been killed and nothing is being done about it.(Alexandrov)

Over the past few decades drug cartels in Mexico have begun glorifying their brutal attacks and fearless efforts over the war on drugs and territory. Drug trafficking has become such a profitable epidemic that various organizations have grown to exploit this area of criminality. Cartels have gained notoriety by amassing large profits in exploiting the drug business. These organizations have created complex strategies to smuggle vast amounts of narcotics from the arms of the producer straight into the hands of the buyers. They have perfected this strategy successfully by distributing the illicit narcotics with the help of their government and local law enforcement, who in return receive bribes of monetary value to look the other way. This

Drug cartels, in reality, are just as bad as they appear on film. Authorities estimate that between eighteen and thirty-nine billion dollars are brought in from drug sales to the United States each year (Keefe). It is also estimated that the war on drugs has caused over 50,000 deaths in Mexico alone since 2006 (Keefe). Deaths are often overlooked because they are not compiled by thousands at once, but gradually over a large area. Other illegal activity such as kidnapping and oil theft have came about from the cartel (Mexico’s Drug Trafficking Organizations: Source and Scope of the Violence). All three films, Miss Bala, Maria Full of Grace, and Traffic give similar accounts to the way the cartel takes people’s lives, only in different areas of the drug moving process.

Drug cartels have grown and expanded throughout the interior and exterior of states for many years. The way drugs started to be introduced to Mexico, Colombia, and other places around the world was believed to be a myth. It was a tale that was known by many through storytelling, which over the years turned into an actual realistic issue. One of the most known cartels that existed for a long time was The Medellin Cartel. It became a subculture of its own, creating a world full of violence, women, money, firearms, death but most importantly power and fear. Located in Colombia this brutal subculture will show how they become one of the wealthiest subculture in the world surpassing even its own country’s riches.