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Escalation of the Mexican Drug War

Mexico Mass Grave Pictures & Photos (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Narcotics like cocaine and heroin have plagued the United States and the rest of the American continent. Countries like Colombia and Mexico battle drug producing and trafficking organizations.

U.S. Joins the Fight in the Drug War

Along with them the U. S. is fighting the so-called Drug War. This war is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade. This initiative includes a set of drug policies of the United States that are intended to discourage the production, distribution, and consumption of psychoactive drugs.

In the context of Mexico, there exist the Mérida Initiative which is a security cooperation approved on June 30, 2008 between the United States and the government of Mexico and the countries of Central America, with the aim of combating the threats of drug trafficking and transnational crime. The Mérida Initiative will appropriate $1.4 billion in a three-year commitment to the Mexican government for military and law enforcement training and equipment, as well as technical advice and training to strengthen the national justice systems.

Smuggling a Big Part of the Drug Wars

In recent years, Mexico’s drug cartels have waged increasingly violent battles with one another as well as with the Mexican government. The Mexican cartels originated in response to a demand for smuggling both people and contraband into the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. The cartels began operating as middlemen smugglers for more powerful groups. With smuggling networks in place, the 1970s saw the cartels branch out on their own and begin to smuggle the high demand drug, marijuana, into the United States.

In the 1980s the Colombian drug cartels rose to power, and they needed a way to bring cocaine into the American market. The Caribbean routes were used, but so were routes through Mexico. In the beginning, the Colombians would pay the Mexican groups as much as $1,000/kilo to smuggle cocaine into the United States. The Colombians would then pick up the drugs and resume distribution and sales efforts. This arrangement brought the Mexican cartels wealth, but little power or control of the drug trafficking market.

Mass Grave Found of Victims of the Drug War

Many questions remain unanswered regarding the future of the Mexican cartels, and their role in the Meso-American organized crime scene. What part will they continue to play in the politics of the Americas? Considering that in the news a mass grave of 51 victims of the drug war was recently discovered. Some analysts also stress that the United States should be doing more to curb arms trafficking from the United States into Mexico.

The gun laws in Border States have a loophole allowing individuals to purchase weapons without a background check. As a result, the weapons trade along the border is very lucrative. But to better engage the escalation of the Drug Wars new policies and measures must be employed so that responses to and means used be specifically responsive to the peculiarities of the present.

August 28, 2010 - Posted by Alex Spencer | Legal | Border States, Caribbean routes, Colombian drug cartels, Drug Wars, gun laws, Marijuana, mass graves, Mexican Cartels, Mexico