The Drug War Continues: Mexican Drug Cartels

Laura Sinoga named Miss Sinaloa and the Queen of Hispanic America "symbolizes declining ethics in Mexico" reports Mark Stevenson, Associated Press Writer. The 23-year old beauty queen was arrested December 26 on suspicion of drug and weapons violations, flaring fear from Mexican congressmen that national beauty pageants has somehow become associated with drug cartels. Rep. Juan Francisco Rivera, the head of the congressional public safety committee urges an investigation on national pageants to insure they are not linked into crime.

Rep. Rivera calls it "a loss of values among young people", but the drug cartel has become a serious threat on both Mexican and American national security. CRS Report for Congress gathered information on Mexico's Drug Cartels in 2007, naming Mexico as "a major drug producing and transit country, is the main foreign supplier of marijuana and a major supplier of methamphetamine to the United States." It also named the country as the main supplier of heroin. And with the large amount of drug trafficking comes a matching amount of violence, including kidnapping Americans, terrorizing immigrants at the border, and beheading thirteen Mexican soldiers on December 23^rd.

The Times reports the decapitated corpses scattered around the northern Mexican city of Chilpancingo was the "latest symbol of the terrifying price" Mexico is paying for United States drug consumption. An estimated 5,300 deaths this year related to organized crime, shows how fighting between cartels has escalated as they battle to control the prime trafficking routes into the U.S. along with the $15 billion made annually in drug trading. So what Rep. Rivera calls a loss of values is actually a skewed attempt by Mexican citizens to make a living in a stagnant Mexican economy. Despite recovering from economic downfalls tied to Latin American financial crises, has an inflation of 5.78% according to the Central Bank in October 2008 and about 14% of the population determined by the CIA Fact Book to be living in poverty.

However, it is not a problem isolated to Mexico, but has jumped across the border to United States border towns, reaching to the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama. According to Michael Webster, three men were found by authorities in August 2008 with their throats slashed open. Investigators believed that this violent crime was because of disputes with drug money between a cartel gang and mules. Gang members, especially along the border enlist immigrants needing to get into the country to act as mules and smuggle large amounts of drugs across the border, which is why the emphasis on border control is needed. But drug cartels, gangs, and affiliates have sprouted up in "middle America", says American Chronicle, waging war on local drug rings as well as officials.

Back in Mexico, cartels bully residents and authorities, leaving a note alongside the beheaded soldiers "for everyone of mine that you kill, I will kill 10". Mexican President Felipe Calderon calls the sudden rise in violence as cartels becoming anxious as the government crackdowns continue to pressure cartels.

"We are well aware that these cowardly assassins are trying to terrorize the state and society," Calderon said at a speech in Mexico City. "We will not take one step back in this fight nor will there be any deal or mercy for the country's clear enemies." While the government prepares to use an extra, $400 million to continue to fight the war on drug traffickers, cartels are believed to be weaseling their way into the entertainment industry. Congressional leaders believe that cartels have infiltrated beauty contests and that is how Zuniga became involved. Cartels have also been rumored to adopt concerts and musical groups in northern Mexico, which allow them to launder drug money through ticket offices.

With control over entertainment industry, illegal passages into the U.S., along with terrorizing Americans throughout the country, drug cartels remain a serious threat. The war on drugs rages on, spending billions of tax payers money a year, along with the battle for the border which spends billions more. Rep. Eliot Engel of New York calls upon more strict laws that deal with drugs and drug trafficking, "we have to fight the scourge here at home just as we help our partners to the south address the problem in their countries."

Sources:

Castillo, E. Eduardo. "Mexico Honors Soldiers Beheaded by Drug Cartels." 2008.

Congressional Research Service. "Mexico's Drug Cartel." 16 Oct 2007. .

Stevenson, Mark. Lawmakers demand probe of Mexico beauty pageants. 26 Dec 2008. .

Webster, Michael. Mexican Drug Cartels Terror Reaches Alabama. 25 Aug 2008. .