The Drug War Between American Border And Mexican 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.

The Mexican Government should conclude obsolete programs and devote those resources to drug cartels. The Mexican Government spends unnecessary millions of dollars paying for local police departments that do not combat the trafficking of drugs. Local authorities are afraid of confronting the drug cartels. “We can just watch how they transport the drug from the Silverado to the Ram, crossing from Sinaloa to Chihuahua, We know who they are but we do not dare to oppose them, it’s a death sentence” (Soto). Alberto Soto stated that the local police department has been corrupted or threatened, “They do not care about their jobs but they fear for their families”.

Texas border security has been a huge issue over the past years, things such as violence, illegal drugs trade, terrorism, and immigration have increase steadily without a direct solution to back it up. The violence between the US and Mexico’s border increase rather quickly since the declaration of the so-called “war on the drug cartels” by former Mexican president Felipe Calderon in the late 2006. With all the ineffective policies, the drugs traffiking and terrorism on Texas border won’t end anytime soon

More than 60,000 people have been killed in the ongoing drug war in Mexico. The fact that this violence has yet to reach its acme is quiet frightening. The freight instilled in the tourist that once found the many hotspots located in Mexico such as Acapulco and Cancun are now terrified to set foot in the land. Due to the fact that there is no safe or secure area where tourist can venture out for a good time. Due to violence Mexico has been affected with a lack of tourist, revenue and its acclaimed bad reputation.

People who are illegal immigrants, travel distances and cross borders to seek a better life while they are desperately looking for a better opportunities, they are also running away from famine, wars or violence from their homeland. For example, Mexico and most central and South America countries unfortunately have a poor economic, environmental and life is not easy to live there. These countries also still engaged in a war with various reasons. Especially; Mexican drug cartels which kills more than 80,000 people in every year. Therefore, United States being the main country that so many immigrants attract as they try to cross the border illegally. As they looking a place that provides freedom of speech and religion, steady jobs, a safe environment, and benefits for the poor and unemployed. It has become a home for many of them. “In 2012, the population of immigrants in the United States illegally is estimated to 11.43 million, rough 3.7% of the entire US population. 59% of the immigrants in the country illegally are from Mexico”. 25% of all the immigrants in the country are illegally reside in California State. As the crossing the border and the journey is hard, in 2008, 53% out of all the immigrants are males which are younger than 40 years old. Some people believes that this people deserve a chance because most of them come with a good intentions. Specifically, they just want jobs where they can get decently paid so they can support them self and their family back home.

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

There is little question that aggressive policing needs to be done between Mexico and Texas. Blocking illegal drugs and violent cartels from entering the United States is crucial and dangerous work. At the same time, numerous indices of crime rates show border communities to be among the safer regions of the state. Such dissonance makes it difficult for the public and its representatives to create a response that also successfully navigates the political landscape.

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.

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

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

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)

The United States has led the fight against criminal activities from Mexican borders for many years. Criminal activities along the United States and Mexican border range from drug trafficking, human smuggling and an economy that disruptive. These are illegal activities scholars have argued could lead to the failure of Mexico as a country and the spread of violence to the United States. The illegal activities are not only a threat to the economy of Mexico and United States but also to the rest of the world due the impacts associated. The border between Mexico and US is of essential significance because it provides the link between the two countries. The border provides passageways through which either country can access the other via land or air means. Although the border is of significance to both countries, smuggling of drugs and trafficking human are main causes of violence between the countries. Drug cartels in Mexico smuggle drugs into the United States and this drives a war between them and the US government. The economy and the peace between Mexico and US is also affected significantly due to the illegal activities. To minimize the violence caused by these illegal activities, the US government need to act against the activities. The United States needs to increase the economic aid and military intervention to Mexico to fight the drug cartels, otherwise it could become a failed state; spreading more violence across the US border.

Every day the U.S. border patrol has to constantly keep an eye out for the smuggling of drugs by Mexican Cartels. There has been much violence due to this drug problem that has left many people near the border killed and is allowing more criminals to obtain these weapons. A lot of this attention goes to the U.S. because many of the weapons utilized in the “drug war” are U.S. made and is interfering with trading relations amongst both the U.S. and Mexico. With this current violent situation in Mexico this has transformed the flow of weapons to an even larger scale.

In a period of four years one metropolitan city experienced a 1,000 percent increase in homicides. Steven Dudley and Elyssa Pachico report that there was an astounding 3,000 murders reported in 2010 compared to only 300 murders in 2006. The statistics dubbed Ciudad Juarez as the murder capital of the world during these years. The ongoing war between the once dominant Juarez Cartel and the current reigning rival Sinaloa Cartel spurred the homicide rate in this crucial drug trafficking route. Recent speculations are that the Sinaloa Cartel led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera has surpassed the waning Juarez Cartel and taken control of Cd. Juarez’s territory (Shoichet). Just like both groups are to blame for the colossal amount of murders so can the shift in power and dominance by one organized crime group in the area could be accredited the dramatic decrease in violence. Crime in this border city which neighbors El Paso, TX has had a sharp decrease in killings. Julio Castañeda, a Chihuahua state spokesman, reports, “So far this year (2015) there have been 89 killings” (Valencia). Fighting organized crime will always be an international challenge, but the war against organized crime in Mexico and along the border with the United States needs to be approached differently than it has been in the past. The high demand for illicit drugs in the United States needs to be minimized, the supply of weapons flowing south to arm federal law enforcement agencies in Mexico needs to stop,