Overivew of Mexico's Drug War

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

The changes in key government leadership positions have had significant implications on Mexico 's drug trade business (Lupsha 1995). Take the example of one of Mexico 's leading drug traffickers, Juan Garcia Abrego who is widely known as the inventor of Mexican drug trafficking. Abrego 's drug smuggling operations flourished under former President Salina 's administration. When former President Zedillo entered office in December of 1994, Abrego lost the high-level protection provided under the former President Salina. Without this level of protection, Abregos influence in the drug trade industry decreased dramatically to the point of bankruptcy, in a traditional business sense. During this transformation, other well-connected cartels gained uncontested access to large drug trafficking corridors once controlled by Abrego. Despite Abregos deteriorating drug influence in Mexico, President Zedillo put a large bounty on him, making Abrego the most wanted drug smuggler in Mexico. Nevertheless, Abrego 's eventual capture was highly celebrated by the United States as a sign of Mexico 's increasing efforts and dedication to the elimination of illicit drug smuggling operations. In my opinion the example of Abrego 's lost influence and highly celebrated capture directly relates to the politic rhetoric and corruption that is associated with

Mexican Drug Cartels have been a problem for many years. The cartels are an organized crime organization and they don’t just deal drugs; they commit murders too. The Cartels origins are traced back to the Columbian Cali and Medellin mega-cartels who were responsible for the majority of drug trafficking into the United States. Crime has existed for many years but it surfaced more when Pablo Escobar was popular. Pablo Escobar was one the main transporters for cocaine throughout Mexico and the United States coming straight out of Columbia. Law enforcement tried to stop the drug trade but Escobar formed a relationship with Mexico-based traffickers who smuggled drugs into the United States. Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo also known as “The Godfather” of the cartels. Seeing how he established the Guadalajara Cartel, which is recognized as the first Mexican Cartel, and were the first to link up with Escobar and started the transportation of cocaine

At first, Mexican drug cartels were structured just like family owned businesses. There would be a family member who was the main drug lord and cousins and uncles of the family would be the body guards and drug dealers. After the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) lost their power within the Mexican government the structure of drug cartels became much more complex. A hierarchical diffusion is seen within the drug cartel system because the drugs spread from one important drug lord to another, and we generally see this happening in the urban part of Mexico, more than in the rural areas. A corporate structure began forming as hierarchies began developing under drug lords and more people got involved. Professor Guillermo Trejo of Notre Dame 's Kellogg Institute claims that once the PRI lost their power there was a rapid increase in violence. This is because of Mexico’s former President, Felipe Calderón, who politically associates with the National Action Party (PAN). In 2006 President Calderón declared war on the drug cartels. This milestone triggered a huge change within Mexico’s international relations, government, and culture.

Many critics are now making comparisons between the Mexican drug cartels, like the one mentioned above, and legitimate corporations like Netflix, or Google. There are currently seven major Mexican drug cartels. Although, the cartels may all come from different backgrounds and have different approaches towards trafficking drugs, they all share a similar business style structure to

According to the U.S. Department of Justice National Drug Intelligence Center, drug cartels can be define as “…large, highly sophisticated organizations composed of multiple [Drug Trafficking Organizations] DTOs and cells with specific assignments such as drug transportation, security/enforcement, or money laundering” (2010). Also, it is mention within this national drug threat assessment that was done by the U.S. Department of Justice, that the “greatest drug trafficking threat” to the United States is “Mexico” (2010). With this been said one can understand that the roots majority of the criminal groups that operate domestically within the U.S. can be traced back to Mexico. So, in order to understand how this criminal organizations form

As the war against the drug trading organizations continues, there seem to be two reasonable options. In the first, the major cartels are targeted. The Sinaloa and Gulf cartels will lose their clasp on the borders and be consumed by smaller scale operations. This will leave the Mexican government with a bigger number of cartels, but each will have smaller areas of influence and fewer people on the ground. Whether that type of situation is easier to deal with than the one currently facing the Mexican government is up to debate. In the second outcome, the opposite chain of events occurs. The central government targets smaller, weaker groups, disbanding them. This would allow for the big

They are mostly situated near the northern, west coast, east coast, and southern border regions. The Sinaloa Cartel and the Gulf Cartel are two main examples of this. They have set up and taken over trafficking cocaine produced in Colombia and exporting it to the rest of the world. However, what makes Mexico unique from Colombia is that there is an ongoing constant struggle for power between rival cartels. Over time one weakens, and another topples it, effectively taking over the business and becoming the next major enemy of the state. Currently, there are about 7 major cartels that include; Los Zetas, La Familia, Juarez Cartel, Tijuana Cartel, Gulf Cartel, Sinaloa Cartel, and the Knights Templar. This staggering number of Cartels all within close proximity of one another, creates an environment hostile to everyone that resides or finds themselves in these heavily contested areas. These include, but are not limited to innocent civilians, tourists, to politicians and even police officers. Certain cartels have different values, targeting specific people and willing to do certain things to express and convey a message in order to gain the attention that they crave.

The Cartels have major influence over many small towns and cities as they make sure their businesses compete with the rest of the illegal drug market. The word Cartel means a formal organization of producers that agree to coordinate prices and production. In order for their organizations to remain established, some cartels in Mexico even have the power to bribe the government so that they look the other way. This is a form of Clientelism, which is an informal aspect of policymaking where a powerful patron offers resources such as land, contacts, protection or jobs in return for the support and services of lower-status and less powerful clients. This obviously leads to corruption as well as the cartel being basically untouchable in some cases. The amount of violence that stirs from this phenomena is staggering and many people die from it every year in

Have you ever wondered how illegal drug cartels have an effect on the Mexican people? For a decade, the drug business has become prominent over the world. Likewise, the company has also influenced the Mexican people more than anything on which they rely for money. As a result, not everyone abominates against the drug cartels as much as the individuals who have to suffer pain from it. Therefore, many people who receive help from the drug cartels has the positive reaction, and other people have endured punishment or unjust deed from the business.

But recent investigations have revealed new numbers, between 2007 and 2014, more than 164,000 Mexicans were victims of homicide and “some counts have blamed the drug war for as much as 55 percent of all homicides. Others have put the estimate as low as 34 percent” (Breslow, 2015). Drug-related crimes are hard to accredit to drug-related crimes because of its nature. Even before 2006, crimes were hardly related to drug activities and criminal organizations, it was after 2006 when, because of the raise of violence and the social media coverage of the acts violence within cartels, authorities start noticing and recognizing such crimes as drug related. Mexico as a country has had a violent past, and the violence has not stopped. The roots of the ongoing conflict between the Mexican government and the drug cartels can be traced back within Mexico’s own culture and

During the mid-2000’s former President of Mexico Felipe Calderon announced his war on the cartels and led to a crackdown against these organizations, along with assistance with

The government has made some gains, but at a heavy price. A total of 34,612 people have died in drug-related killings in Mexico in the first four years (Siddique). Most of these killing are between cartel rivals fighting for the control of territories. There are five cartels operating in Mexico: the Sinaloa, the Gulf, Juarez, Tijuana, the Zetas. The major cartels are the Gulf, Sinaloa and Juarez (Cook 21). Many of these cartels have joined together forming powerful alliances known as the “Federation” (Cook 17). The cartels work together, but they remain independent organizations.

As previously discussed, Mexico is one of the biggest producers, and suppliers of illegal drugs. This market has grown incredibly over the years. It has become such a problem that the Mexican government has declared war against drugs. Drug cartels are very powerful in Mexico because they have such a profitable business going. While most of the country lives in poverty, Mexican drug cartels make around 64 billion American dollars that come just from consumption in the U.S alone. These organizations have created jobs for many Mexicans who have no choice but to get involved in this criminal business.

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.