...Trafficking between the United States and Mexico: The Drug Trafficking Nexus Transnational Crime and Globalization By: Katrina T. Mason May 2, 2008 The United States is quite known for their proactive stances on the “War on Drugs”, “War on Terror”, and “War in Iraq”. Some view them as the international police and others view them as the international fiend, but it is in no doubt that the United States takes a very active stance in fighting what they believe is evil and wrong within the world. This is increasingly true for the evils that occur within its own borders such as the continued drug epidemic, domestic violence, child abuse, poverty, gangs, and prostitution (with the exception of Nevada). Unfortunately though, the United States’ stance on legal activities crossing from their own governance into neighboring states where the activity is illegal is not held with the same level of concern or dedication. A primary example of this double standard can be seen on the Mexican-United States border. This is not in reference to the debris from the giant wall being built on the Mexican border falling to the southern side, the young Americans fleeing across the borders to intoxicate themselves, or even the revolution of McDonalds springing up in towns throughout Mexico; but instead to the small arms and light weapons trafficking continually flowing down from the border states into Mexico causing alarming murder rates, economical...
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...prevention, treatment, and market disruption. In this paper, I will demonstrate that because illegal drug trafficking is so inextricably linked to international crime and terrorism, there is a critical need to increase Department of Defense initiatives, in conjunction with the other elements of national power, to develop a decisive anti-drug cartel strategy that will provide security for not only our nation but other nations as well and its citizens at home and abroad. Narcotics, guns and violence, the powerful elements of a never ending war. All these elements are part of the campaign to rid the world of the disaster that drugs so ferociously have inflicted upon the United States and Mexico. The United States and Mexico has for the past three decades declared that it is in a full fledged attack against drugs and the violence it fosters. For decades billions and billons of dollars have been justified through the infamous War on Drugs. The money and military activity have not been enough, and the “urban problem,” has not been solved. It is that the two governments do not have the strategic smarts to solve the problem? I found it amazing the United States has the largest demand of drugs in the world, so is technically our fault and are we to blame? While other countries also face the drug problem, The United States and Mexico has spent the most and its effectiveness more than any other country. The Mexican Drug War is an...
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...America has many advantages such as natural resources, a stable government, and advanced technology. Its southern neighbor, Mexico, has not had as much luck. Mexico’s unfortunate terrain and unstable government has hindered its ability to gain any significant amount of wealth as a nation. In his novel, All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy shows us the difference in the wealth of these two nations through the travels of John Grady Cole and Lacy Rawlins. McCarthy gives readers an example of Mexico’s economic status when he writes, “How much they pay you? We was getting two hundred pesos a month. In Texas what do they pay for this work. I dont know. Hundred a month. Hundred dollars. Yessir. Eight hundred Pesos. Yessir. I reckon” (McCarthy 164). By writing about how much one would be paid for working on a ranch in Mexico compared to working on a ranch in America, McCarthy shows his readers the difference in the wealth of the two nations. An article from Time Magazine also gives readers an idea of what the Mexican economy is like by saying that, “The average Mexican worker makes 1 peso and 25 centavos an hour. At that rate, he has to work ten hours to buy lunch fro a family of five, 72 hours to pay an average rent in the center of the city, and 160 hours to buy a suit of clothes” (Time). Despite the close proximity of the United States and Mexico, the United States is the wealthier of the two nations due to the value of the Peso compared to the value of the dollar, the...
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...Municipal president, which is the chief of government of municipios in Mexico. The two meet late at night in Miguel’s town which is on the outskirts of the city, in a rural village affected heavily by poverty. Miguel: Quickly come in before anyone notices, we don’t need another politician’s blood on the hands of the drug war. Enrique: These meetings are getting more and more dangerous every month. Especially with fear and violence heightened because of Donald Trump’s recent success in the presidential election. Miguel:...
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...country. Gunmen have increased attacks on public officials and armored car sales are spiraling. Many cartels are cross-border criminal organizations also involved in kidnapping, extortion, cargo robbery, smuggling, and piracy (Marketline, 2012). Moreover, drug trafficking and other criminal activities launder billions of dollars into the Mexican economy through a fine network of bankers and business figures. With many cartels branching into other crimes, the problem has compounded, expanding into US territory. For instance, North Carolina-based Wachovia Wells Fargo Bank recently had to pay USD160 million to settle federal investigations on allegations of laundering Mexican drug money (Marketline, 2012). Table 1 Mexican Drug Cartels Main Areas of Influence, 2010-2011 Source: Nieto, 2012 Mexico’s Industrial Chambers Federation informed that the cost of insecurity in Mexico reached 7% of the country’s GDP, the equivalent of 9,640 pesos per person (El Universo, 2010). An estimate of lost money due to the fight against drug traffic and crime in general represents 154 billion pesos (El Universo, 2010). This aspect presents Mexico’s most important political risk, as recently elected president Enrique Pena Nieto (PRI)...
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...HST 202 Apri Pancho Villa’s Raids into the United States There is a day in U.S. History that is sometimes forgotten. On this day, five hundred Mexican guerillas crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and induced anarchy upon a small New Mexico town. The day is March 9, 1916. On this day, former friend to the United States, Pancho Villa raided the United States and killed seventeen Americans. Doroteo Arango, also known as, Pancho Villa was born on June, 5 1878, in Rio Grande, Mexico. Villa was made the man of the house at a young as after the death of his father. His life of rebellion and crime started at a young age as he was arrested and imprisoned for killing a man who was harassing his younger sister (Bio.com). Soon after his conviction he escaped prison and began his life as an outlaw. As years went on and Mexico’s government was torn by corruption, Villa teamed up with Francisco Madreo and started a Mexican revolutionary throughout the northern part of Mexico (Bio.com). As one of Madreo’s most skilled and talented fighter he was appointed Colonel (Bio.com). In 1911, Villa leads his troops to victory in the Battle of Cuidad Juarez and Madreo becomes Mexico’s new president (Emerson Kent.com). In the following year Villa disobeys direct orders from Madreo and gets sentenced to life in prison (Bio.com). Once again Villa escaped out of prison, only this time he flees to El Paso, Texas (Emerson Kent.com). This is when Pancho Villa became a friend to the United States...
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...Will It Ever Stop? INTRODUCTION The United States and Mexico share a border that stretches 2,000 miles. The border is a product of the clash of the British and Spanish Empires. It is a place of lawlessness and violence. Drug cartels have used the border to smuggle illegal drugs into the United States for years. The United States market for drugs is a multibillion dollar a year industry. 90% of the illegal drugs that are smuggled into America come through our southern borders. As a nation we consume over 50% of the worlds illegal drugs, which exemplify the problem that America has with drug consumption. The demand for illegal drugs in the US allows drug cartels in Mexico to make billions of dollars by smuggling Marijuana, and Methamphetamines through the US/Mexican Border. Efforts to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the US have been unsuccessful. Drug Cartels use various methods in the transportation of their merchandise. Such methods include using underground tunnels, semi trucks, automobiles, and humans to transport these illegal drugs. Only 3 to 8 percent of the drugs that are smuggled from Latin America into the United States is confiscated, which is a very discouraging number. Our border patrol and DEA need to do a better job securing our borders and preventing the flow of such harmful drugs into America. There are a reported 7 cartels that operate in Mexico; the biggest players in the drug trade between Mexico and the US are the Tijuana, Juarez, Sinaloa, and the Gulf...
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...Mexico’s Drug Cartel Dilemma Mexico has a major problem in their country. The problem is drug cartels and the drugs they are carrying with them. Mexico’s drug cartels are the most dangerous and lethal cartels of all other countries. They will do anything to get money, even killing innocent people for just a few thousand dollars. The government is trying to stop or contain the drug cartels, but the cartels seem to be resisting. They have influenced some of the Government officials to turn a blind eye to what is happening. Sadly, with the drug cartels, there are some negative effects on the local people of Mexico: most of the locals are either ran out of their homes, have been captured or forced to become a member of their cartels. If the...
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...(Goodman, 2011) Mexico. Poor wretch. A PUT-UP JOB Barbara Wigman How to write a paper 9/20/13 LECTURER: W.G. GOLDMAN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES OF ARNHEM AND NIJMEGEN MEXICO. POOR WRETCH. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 2 Part I: Origins of the war ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Part II: Government versus government ................................................................................................................. 3 Part III: A put-up job? .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Part IV: enclosure .................................................................................................................................................... 4 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................................ 5 1 HOW TO WRITE A PAPER. BARBARA WIGMAN MEXICO. POOR WRETCH. INTRODUCTION The war-on-drugs is a widely known phenomena all over the world. When pinpointing the war-on-drugs, Mexico is mostly the first country which comes to mind. Poor wretch, or not? It is no...
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...Situation In the border between Guatemala-Mexico what started as a small conflict over in the month of February, has become a massacre. Over 10,000 innocent people have been killed in the bloodiest conflict between drug cartels that the region has ever seen. The conflict started in the middle of February, when a group of about 25 individuals attempted to cross illegally from Guatemala into Mexican territory through the Chilpepeño border crossing. These kinds of acts are widely known and beyond that, they are carried away by professionals in the matter with years of experience and institutions that back them up. The group had paid its dues to an organization that would be in charge of guiding them as well as the bribing of Mexican authorities. What was unknown to the organization was that among the individuals, there were some very dangerous thieves. Julio Carranza Sandoval and another 10 members of the Corajudos Mexican drug cartel had stolen 35 million dollars and 300 kilos of cocaine from the Almitran Guatemalan drug cartel a few days before. The crossing was planned to take place on February 16th. The group was being guided through the darkness of a moonless night when they were ambushed by members of the Almitran cartel. A few died on the spot, the rest were taken as hostages. Before the sun started to rise over the horizon, the Corajudos cartel had mobilized its people to the southern Mexican border and were heavy armed. The conflict has been prolonged for over a month...
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...Most people assume the drug war in Mexico should not be called a war at all, but through the first 11 months of 2008 the Mexican war has “about 1,000 more [deaths] than the number of U.S. military personnel [killed] in Iraq” (“Is Mexico’s” 3) in that same time period. You have to wonder why more isn’t done for this reoccurring violence and illegal activity. The Mexican drug war masked by powerful gang leaders called cartels and hidden by intimidated citizens will continue for many years unless both the United States and Mexico join together further more to stop this ongoing problem that has cost thousands of lives. The cartels using various forms of illegal money making techniques to attain their powerful state has received minimal defiance until recently by U.S. and Mexican governments. The cartels use highly illegal techniques to obtain power. These techniques originated because of the chance at 8-23 billion dollars estimated for anyone to obtain (“Is Mexico’s” 4). Topping the list to acquire money are illegal drugs which are the most “widely recognized source of criminal power in Mexico” stealing cars, kidnapping, smuggling Mexicans into United States, and protection rackets also increase their profit (Walters 2). This profit is made from drugs shipped to the U.S., and sold there because of the high demand. At the peak of these drugs is marijuana which it is the “single largest source of drug profits for cartels”. They can easily ship their marijuana to marijuana legal...
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...Alleged drug lord, from Texas "La Barbie" Valdez was extradited to the United States from Mexico, U.S. on Wednesday. Valdez, who got his nickname due to his fair complexion, was one of 13 defendants wanted for violent crimes and drug trafficking-related offenses to be handed over to U.S. Marshals. He headed the Beltran Leyva cartel until being arrested in August 2010. The 13 defendants were wanted on an many charges, including the murders of a U.S. Consulate employee, other violent crimes and drug-trafficking related crimes. Valdez and another defendant, Carlos Montemayor, are charged in the Georgia with conspiring to distribute cocaine and launder money on June 11, 2010. Valdez also faces narcotics-related charges in Louisiana. Valdez became...
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...campaign promises he will leave lots of Mexican kids without parents. Therefore if the Mexicans get deported this will leave the kids alone and separate a lot of Mexican families. In addition, According to Janell Ross from The Washington Post, A mother would be the only one left to support the family if the dad was deported. Mexican American children can wind up in foster care when their parents are deported. And the more deportations occur that affect a family in many ways. If the father is deported the mother is the only one who can provide to the children. And sometimes even both of the parents get deported and that leads to the children going to a foster home and that can give them depression. Therefore if the Mexicans got deported to Mexico it would affect the mother and also the...
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...Mexico is immersed in a war in which rival cartels, fight against each other for power and control of the drug trade. Over the last four years the violence has escalated in the three northern states of Chilhuahua, Tamaulipas and Sinalo. The United States needs to step in and help fix the problems. Tons of people are killed every day because of the drug wars that are happening just across our border. America and Mexico need to come together to stop the three majors contributors to the war; gun smuggling, police corruption and the economy in Mexico. The United States is supplying Mexico with the power to let these wars happen by supplying them with firearms. “More than 1,100 guns found discarded at Mexico shooting scenes or confiscated from cartel gangsters were traced to Texas gun merchants in 2007”(“Mexican Drug War Facts”). Right now we are trying to stop the flow of guns across our border but the progress is not enough. A commission lead by three Latin American heads of state has criticized the United States for the failure to stop the drug cartels and the results are pushing Mexico to its breaking point. The United States needs to tighten gun laws on who can purchase guns and impose longer waiting periods especially in Border States. We need to make sure that we are not allowing any weapons to cross our border into Mexico. Police corruption is a major problem because the cartels do not have to suffer consequences for their crimes. “In the past year, Mexico's civil drug...
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...political systems of Mexico and to discuss why they are important United States (US) interests. This paper will focus on trade, economic stability, political stability, and transnational partnership. 2. The Mexican economy presents opportunity and potential to the US. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) relieved numerous cross-border tariffs along Mexico’s northern border.1 The enactment of NAFTA heralded a 41 percent increase in US-Mexico cross-border traffic and was noted as the busiest border in the world.2 Mexico’s two most dominant exports include manufactured goods and crude oil.3 Mexico was rated the 7th highest nation for foreign investment opportunity due to its macroeconomic stability and enticed manufacturers.4 In addition, Mexico was determined the 12th biggest oil exporter in the world.5 The Chicontepec basin contains 40 percent of Mexico’s natural oil reserves and remains mostly untapped due to lack of oil extraction technology.6 Despite recent gains, roughly half of Mexicans live below the poverty line.7 Epidemic poverty offers a...
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