Mexican Drug Trade Essay

There are seven drug cartels in Mexico (CRS 1). The most important cartels are Sinaloa and Juarez. The Sinaloa cartel operates in the states of Nayarit, Sinaloa and Mexico State (Reforma 1). The Juarez cartel operates in Sinaloa, Nuevo León, Chihuahua, Jalisco, Morelos; and Quintana Roo. Mexican cartels employ individuals and groups of enforcers, known as sicarios. Statistics show that more than twenty people are killed daily in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua in crimes related to drugs. Drug lords send their gunmen to strategic places where innocent people that are in the wrong place at the wrong time are killed. Narco Lords like Vicente Carrillo Fuentes and Joaquin el Chapo Guzman, fight among themselves for the

A widely propagated myth would have us believe that Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera and his Sinaloa Federation are less violent than many of their competitors. Statements from journalists and analysts allege that Sinaloa is more businesslike than Los Zetas, whose reputation for brutality is well-documented, and that this business savvy somehow renders the group relatively benign. In turn, this has led many to believe that the Mexican government could broker a deal with the leader of one of Mexico's largest criminal organizations.

    Mexico is not the only country to blame for the consequences behind drug trafficking and gangs. Since the border between the United States and Mexico is stretched two thousand miles long, it makes it easier to smuggle drugs through and across the US boarders. Mentioned in the article, “Drug wars: violence surges in Mexico”, ¨The drug wars are controlled by seven drug cartels-- criminal organizations that transfer drugs…cocaine and marijuana, often into the United States¨ (Drug Wars 4+).  With both medical and recreation marijuana being one of the hot topics in the U.S, the main component has to come from somewhere. It is obvious, that the “somewhere” being referred to is Mexico. According to the article “Mexican Drug Wars”, “The drug trade from Mexico to the United States began during the Prohibition Era (1919-33), when the sale, production, or transportation of alcohol was illegal in the United States (Mexico's Drug

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 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

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

David Mares gives us insight into the political economy of drug trafficking in his book Drug Wars and Coffee Houses. To help us understand how psychoactive substances are organized and distributed, he uses the concept of a commodity chain. A commodity chain is the system that links consumption of psychoactive substances to everything that makes it possible, and proves that if something affects one phase of the system, the other phases are affected as well. Consumers and producers in this system depend on each other, and “neither one could exist without the other” (Mares, p.13). The whole system consists of various pieces that

In 2006, Mexico began to crack down on drug trafficking operations in union with the United States. Why all of the sudden? In regard to that question, my paper will include a history of events leading up to this sudden crack down on drug trafficking, from its start in the 1960’s until today. After the history of the drug war, I will discuss the main states involved like the United States and Mexico itself. Along with their main goal of eliminating drug trafficking all together, although it is a very high expectation. Mexico has sent out 50,000 soldiers that are being paid less than a burrito vendor, in attempt to lessen the

On the other hand, from 2000 to 2010, both countries faced similar conflicts but each with their own purpose and background. For example, in 2006 Mexico declared war against the 7 Mexican cartels. This war was the first time that Mexico declared war on drugs. In this war, approximately 164,000 people have been a victim of homicide due to drug conflict (Shirk, 2011). In 2007 according to U.S Government estimates, approximately 15,500 metric tons of marijuana and an unknown number of Methamphetamine were produced in 2007 and exported primarily to the United States (Schaefer, Bahney, Riley, 2009). Mexico in this war was experiencing one of the most horrible and bloody wars of its time. Mexico was fighting the drugs cartels that were strongly armed

Drug cartels have been an issue for Mexico over a century now, according to Congressional Research Service. This issue had led to assassination against innocent people, many individuals have been threaten, murdered and even kidnapped. In the year of 1940, Mexico was a big source of marijuana and heroin which created these big Drug trafficking organizations that still exist today for example; in Tijuana, MX “The Arellano Felix Organization”, Sinaloa, MX “Cartel Del Chapo”, “Los Zetas”, “Beltran Leyva Organization” and “La Familia Michoacana”. The once-coherent organizations and their successors are still operating, both in conflict with one another and at times working in collaboration. The reason I chose this topic was because, six years ago my family decided to moved back to Mexico and during my time there I was able to experience many violent situations.

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.

Large organizations called cartels reign over the illegal drug economy in Mexico which are in constant violent competition against U.S. law enforcement officials and members of the Mexican government. According to Campbell (2008), there are four main cartels including the Chapo Guzmán Cartel, the Tijuana Cartel, the Gulf Cartel, and the Juárez Cartel. Attempts to control the multi-billion dollar drug trafficking trade leads to dangerous and often fatal circumstances that have evolved from the “informal, unregulated, underworld nature of smuggling” (Nordstrom 2007) created by pressures from the Mexican government and the United States’ “War on Drugs”.

The international drug trade from Latin American states is having an impact on a global scale. The trafficking of drugs along with corruptness and murder is an international conflict that is being fought daily. There are many aspects of the drug war from Mexico and other Latin American states which have effects on United States policy as well as policies from other countries that participate in the global suppression of illegal drugs.

Films often depict the trade and use of drugs in Latin America as an extremely violent situation. Countries like Columbia or Mexico are usually where the drugs come from while the United States are the destination. More times than not, Latin America plays the role of an antagonist while the United States plays the protagonist. A film about Latin America, when pertaining to the United States, can fall into one of three categories: fully Latin American, a joint effort between Latin American countries and the United States, or a film by the United States. Gerado Naranjo’s Miss Bala (2011), is a Mexican film that is set in Tijuana, Mexico, and follows a young Mexican pageant girl as she becomes mixed up in the Mexican drug cartels. Maria Full