The History of Drug Trafficking - Essay Example

Drug Cartels and the Origin of their Power Introduction The history of drug trafficking is intertwined and embedded into the history and culture of a number of Latin American countries, with Mexico and Columbia some of the leading drug trafficking countries worldwide. Power and drug trafficking ago hand in hand as drug trafficking is very lucrative, perhaps only comparable to guns and human trafficking. In fact it is claimed that these three go hand in hand, that is the cartels do both drug trafficking, illegal weapons and illegal human-trafficking. Drug trafficking is prone to those areas as the major drugs consumed globally such as cocaine uses coca, which naturally occurs in a plant in the Latin American country, but contrary to popular beliefs, the plant that produces coca is not harmful to humans, unless mixed with other chemicals. The authorities in the United States and Mexico have for years collaborated to eliminate the menace, however, history of the trade have grave political implications on either side of the border. In Mexico, much similar to the other Hispanic nations, the money that is gotten from the trade finds itself lining the pockets of politicians. The illegal money that made in the drug business, is unquantifiable, but has been claimed to be create economic boom within the Hispanic countries. This paper is an exploration of the drug problem in Mexico through an in depth interview of a friend from the other side of the border so as to draw thorough information on the problem. The paper is narrative of the interaction and accompanying secondary information. A History of Drug Cartels and Its Political Influence The major component that is used to produce cocaine in the region is coca, and it has been a tremendous positive and lately negative influence on Latin American culture for over a century. Coca has been used to fight hunger, fatigue, sickness and also increase the flow of oxygen to the brain at high altitudes. Over the years, the positive use, away from the negative use, has been the main reason why banning coca has been extremely difficult over the years. The diverse and positive usage of coca has blocked the banning of its cultivation or place a penalty on growing coca. Due to the leniency in raising Coca, drug cartels believed that they could get away with cultivating the plant for drug use by turning it into cocaine through its mixing with various chemicals. Keep in mind that Latin America has never been a prosperous region of the world. It is an area populated some of the poorest communities, war-torn, and impoverished nations that often look to other countries for aid, both of the humanitarian and financial kind. An interview with the friend from Mexico did not reveal a lot into the history of the drug trade in Mexico. Nonetheless, the interviewee confirmed that Mexico’s drug problem is punctuated with violence, with over 1300 beheadings reported in the year 2012 alone, and a further high number of hanging of corpses, car bombs, torture and assassination of police and journalists. Similarly, Beittel (1) relying on media reported figures, estimate the number of deaths in the year 2012 to be between 47, 000 to 65, 000 drug related. The problem is not a 2012 one, and neither does it affect only the current generation, it has transcended several generations in the country for century. for years now, drug cartels majorly; Guadalajara, Sinoloa, Tijuana, Juarez, and Gulf cartels have controlled different routes and regions within Mexico to the biggest consumer of the drugs, USA. Ironically, while the United States has been the world’s biggest consumer, it has also been the world’s largest spender in measures against drug trafficking. Perhaps, prompting the research (Suddath, 2009). It has not been clear to point out the beginnings of trafficking n mexico, but the flourishing of the business in the 19th, 20th and 21st century points out to a business that was imported from the south American nations, particularly Bolivia and Columbia. From then on the cartels took hold firmly generating billions of dollars. One of Mexicos most wanted drug traffickers prior to his arrest in Mexico last February, his illegal drug trade made him a billionaire to the tune of $1 billion. He was an extremely powerful man, whose reign of terror resulted in 12, 000 deaths as his gang war with the Juarez cartel escalated in an effort to take over the latters drug route. El Chapo, as he was known withn the cartel circle, became Chicagos public enemy number 1 and ran the Mexico -Chicago drug route which was then distributed throughout the Midwest region to small gangs (McGahan, Jason “How Captured Mexican Drug Lord El Chapo Turned Chicago Into His Home Port”). In reports from “The Five Most Famous Drug Cartels”, the title of “the biggest and most violent criminal groups in Mexico” rests with the Tijuana cartel. Led by Felix Gallardos nephews, the Arellano Felix brothers, however, infighting and arrests of its members has whittled down the size of their cartel. The Juarez cartel though, prides itself in being a former partner of the Sinaloa cartel. Controlling 3 main drug entry points into the United States in El Paso, Texas, the group works with the La Linea and Barrio Azteca groups to secure the drug route into the United States. This barbaric group has been known to behead, mutilate and display the heads of their executed enemies. Finally, we have the Gulf cartel that is based in Matamoros, Tamaulimpas. It is one of the oldest drug groups in Mexico and works through an international network. It has also been involved in assassinations and kidnappings worldwide. Even with the arrest of the group leaders Mario Alberto Cardenas Guillen, Osiel Cardenas Guillen, Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, and Antonio Cardenas Guillen, the cartel still manages to operate and infiltrate the United States (“The Five Most Famous Drug Cartels”). ONiel explains the method by which the drug cartels manage to bypass the security systems that governments have set into place boggles the mind. Surely it would be easy to apprehend their gang members if the government puts its mind to it. The problem is that whether in the United States or Mexico, the whispers of corrupt government officials who are in bed with the cartel leaders persists. There seems to be an unseen, unacknowledged, and unspoken of payoff system between the government officials whose influence is necessary to get the drugs into the country, and the cartel. However, the change in politics in Mexico and the United States that resulted in a change of national leadership and a much closer working relationship between the two nations in terms of combating drug trafficking seems to have thrown the cartels through a loop. Stricter border control and more accurate surveillance of suspected drug groups has led the drug cartels to tighten and streamline their operations. (ONiel, Shannon “The Real War in Mexico”). That said, nobody can actually say that the politicians in Mexico are no longer in business with the drug lords. The term coined to explain this strange partnership is “The Corruption Conundrum”. Mexican druglords still manage to infiltrate the government agencies and co-opt the government officials in the process. Although this partnership raises the price of the drugs due to the political and law enforcement influence that the cartels are forced to buy in order to move their products locally and across states, the cartels go ahead with it because the money they pay out comes back a thousand fold (Gonzales, Francisco “Mexicos Drug War Gets Brutal”). To quote author Francisco Gonzales; Given the rising tide of violence and the mounting evidence of drug-related corruption at all levels of government, it is probably fair to say that so far, the cartels, have managed to take the lead in a psychological war against the Mexican state (Gonzales, Francisco “Mexicos Drug War Gets Brutal”). It is important to note that not all the government officials in Mexico and the United States are corrupt. My opinion is that not all of them are beholden to the drug cartels. But because the drug cartels do not hesitate to use coercion, blackmail, and assassination attempts as warnings to the officials who refuse to cooperate, the government official is sometimes left without a choice. One of the main reasons that these drug cartels continue to proliferate is that the cartel leaders have learned how to create an enticing image for the cartels known as a “narco lifestyle”. By involving themselves in mediums such as clothing and music, they are able to make their products and lifestyle seem cool and more acceptable to people. Thus they are able to recruit, and glamorize their lifestyle. Making them seem more on the level of the public than they actually are (Guevara, America “Propaganda in Mexicos Drug War”). Keep in mind that in the music world, it is an open secret that evens the rapper Jay - Z, who began his career as a drug trader and made his money from drugs before going straight and earning billions from his glamorized cartel-like lifestyle. It was because of this impunity of the drug cartels that the Mexican President Felipe Calderon was forced to convince the United States that because the drugs were also entering their country, the United States had a co-responsibility to ensure that these drug cartels were taken down. However, the entry of the United States into the picture did not do much to change the problem of international drug trafficking within the cartel system. In response to the threat and in a move to take responsibility for the control and eradication of the drug cartel entering its borders, the United States has over the years spent over a trillion dollars, in an effort to combat the entry of illegal drugs into its borders. However, it seems to be a futile battle because of; “... shifts in allegiances, changes in delivery techniques (and), all kinds of new technologies applied on both the supply and prevent sides...” (Beckhardt 123). Yet America has not given up on their anti drug trafficking drive. Being the closest neighbor to these drug trafficking nations, the United States has long been battling the influx of illegal drugs such as cocaine into its borders. Richard Nixon was one of the first presidents to acknowledge the danger of the drug trade that was creeping into the nation. In fact in an op-ed piece by Vuillamy, he mentions that Nixon called the drug problem “Public Enemy No. 1” and declared on July 17, 1971 a war on drugs that would assume the “dimensions of a national emergency”. Asking Capitol Hill for an initial $84m (£52m) for "emergency measures" to combat the drug problem. Nixon took such responsive actions towards the problem that he signed the war on drugs into law on January 28, 1972. (Vuillamy, Ed “Nixons War on Drugs Began 40 Years Ago, and the Battle is Still Raging”). It is important to note that had the United States not entered into the drug trafficking offensive, it may have been more difficult for countries like Mexico and Colombia to battle the drug cartels. President Bill Clinton started the co-responsibility movement via his Plan Colombia in the year 2000 in coordination with the Colombian President Andres Pastrana. This is why Colombia has always been the biggest recipient of narcotics aid in the region. However, Pres. George W. Bush and his Merida Initiative pushed U.S. Congress to release $1.4 billion in 3 years beginning in Dcember 2008 to the Mexican government. Under this program, the United States provided technology and training to Mexican authorities that applied to their war on drugs (Dener & Hagen 94-95). The opinion of many governments and law enforcement officials is that the war on drugs and the cartels should be considered a borderless war because the drug cartels know no boundaries and does not recognize territorial jurisdictions. Mexican and Columbian authorities have both done their part in order to take down the never ending stream of cartels and mini cartels, imprison drug lords and organized crime bosses, and policed their borders as best as they can. But in order to totally defeat the cartels, the United States must take on a more participative role in the prevention of drug trafficking within its borders. This means that American politicians must also be policed and investigated if even the most remote hint of their involvement in illegal drugs is presented. It is not enough that the United States supplies technology and supplies to these countries if their own politicians will undermine their countrys anti drug policies and programs. Without more effective implementation of anti drug trafficking laws, peaceful citizens of the world will always be placed in direct drug cartel / gang violence danger from these cartels. Take for example the case of Cristina Roman from Mexico who told me her story just so I could portray the violence that these drug carter gangs inflict upon innocent civilians. She relates the events that transpired one night in May 2010 when a knock on their door changed their lives: The gang members violently entered their home and pistol whipped her husband with their gun butts before they kidnapped him. Making ransom demands over the next few days that Cristina could not comply with. So they threw her husbands dead body in the middle of streets in Juarez. Her children and she were only spared because of the gang members El Vato, took pity on them and asked to lock her and the children in a room. The reason she was targeted by the Mexican drug cartel? She survived a mass shooting as one of the few witnesses to the executions in Juarez. In conclusion, I would like to say that the war on drugs is by no means coming to an end. The problem and its accompanying violence continues to spread across the world with offshoots of the Mexican and Colombian drug cartels infiltrating other countries in Asia such as the Philippines. Therefore, battling these drug cartels and trying to combat their political influence is now an international matter of concern rather than localized or regional concerns. Conclusion The drug problem is mighty than estimated and from the vast amounts spent by the government of the United States in combating the problem, and then the menace is self defeatist. The high number of brutal deaths is associated with the menace and being the border country with Mexico, Us has borne the brunt of the disorganization in Mexico. Authorities throughout the centuries have battled, but the war is far from completion as the gangs adopt new shape and incorporate technology in their operations. The friend over in Mexico shed more light on thongs hitherto read in newspaper and watched on television as he had a firsthand experience, being a resident of the country. Works Cited Beittel, June S. Mexicos Drug Trafficking Organizations: Source and Scope of the Rising Violence. Washington, D.C.?: Congressional Research Service, 2013. Internet resource. Beckhardt, Arnold R. Mexican Gold: The Forty Year Drug War. S.l.: Authorhouse, 2010. Print. Gonzales, Franciso E. “Mexicos Drug War Gets Brutal”. fatcow.com. fatcow.com. n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. Guevara, America. "Propaganda in Mexicos Drug War." Journal of Strategic Security, 6.3Suppl (2013): 131-51. Print. McGahan, Jason. “How Captured Mexican Drug Lord El Chapo Turned Chicago Into His Home Port”. time.com. time.com. 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. ONiel, Shannon. “The Real War in Mexico”. Foreign Affairs. cerium.ca. Jul-Aug. 2009 Web. 1 Mar. 2014.  Suddath, Claire. “The War on Drugs”. Time. http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1887488,00.html. 2009 retrieved on April, 3rd 2014. . United States. The White House. Strategy to Combat Organized Transnational Crime. The White House, n.d. Web. 4 Mar. 2014. Vulliamy, Ed. “Nixon War on Drugs Began 40 Years Ago, and the Battle is Still Raging”. The Guardian. theguardian.com. 24 Jul. 2011. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. Read More