Mexico, The Mexican Drug Cartel - Research Paper Example

Mexico, The Mexican drug cartel - War against drugs Mexico is a country that is officially d as the United Mexican States. The capital of the country is Mexico City and the country has an area which is thrice to that of the area of Texas. The population of the country is 113,724,226 according to a census in the year 2011. Sixty percent of the population in the country comprises of Spanish people followed by Indians form 30 percent of the total population. The demand for independence was put forward in the year 1810 and the country was officially independent by the year 1824. The official language of the country is Spanish and it is marked as the “most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world.” Christianity is the religion that is practiced by most of the people in the country. The rate of poverty is very high in the country and it was estimated that 44 percent of the people living in the country earned below the poverty line (Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs 2011). Most of the people in the country live in the urban areas and people leave the rural areas and move to the developed ones in search of better opportunities. Furthermore, many people leave the country and move to the United States for better earning opportunities. The country earns much of its income by sending oil to other countries as it is an oil producing country. Criminal activities are a reason of many problems in the country. The abduction rates in Mexico are marked to be very high in comparison to other countries across the globe. Strong drug trafficking organizations function in the country and they are responsible for the drug trading between South America and the United States. Felipe Calderon was declared as the President of the country in the year 2006. He took strong steps for overcoming the issue of drug trafficking and his measures have resulted in the death of 35000 people in the country since the initiation of his campaign against drugs (BBC 2012). Mexico is marked to be a country with a leading role in the making of drugs as well serving as a route for the transportation of drugs. The major movement of drugs which include marijuana and methamphetamine in the United States is from Mexico. Ninety percent of the cocaine that reaches to the United States is through its movement via Mexico. The drug trafficking organizations are not only involved in the movement of drugs but at the same time, they are involved in kidnappings as well as murders. The drug cartels have gained a strong hold in the country during the last decade of the twentieth century. This mainly followed the deaths of Cali and Medellin cartels belonging to Colombia. The National Drug Intelligence Center has put forward that the drug trade in the United States is now mainly dominated by the Mexican drug mafia. The Mexican drug cartels have a strong stand and many government officials particularly those from the law enforcement agencies work in collaboration with them. This is owing to the bribes provided by the drug trafficking organizations. A campaign was initiated in the year 2006 by the President of Mexico against the drug cartels in nine states out of the total thirty two states in Mexico (Cook et al 2007). The Mexican government has put forward the fact that there are seven drug cartels working in the country. Gulf, Sinaloa and Juarez are the major drug trafficking groups and their presence is dominant in most parts of the country. Many dominant drug trafficking organizations have started working together in Mexico. This has led to the formation of two major groups in the world of drug trafficking in Mexico. It has been indicated that this unity has mainly resulted due to the arrest of many leaders in these groups. Mexican cartels have also started to have a strong hold in the United States. They have done so via cultivating drugs on the land of the United States and by forming alliances with criminal groups in the United States. The purpose of this alliance is to make the transportation and distribution of drugs easy in the United States. The Mexican drug cartels engage in other criminal activities as well. These include the kidnapping and movement of people across borders. Furthermore, stealing vehicles as well as movement of arms is another illegal trade that they are engaged in. Another important aspect that the Mexican drug cartels follow is that they move money across the borders mainly through cars and trucks. This is because the electronic methods of transferring money are regulated and checked in the United States (Cook et al 2007). The drug cartels use strong tactics and techniques to keep their gangs running and strong. “Sicarios” are people who are employed by these drug trafficking organizations for the purpose of strength. Another tactic used by the drug cartels is bribing the law enforcement officials to prevent any hindrance in their operations. This is not the only strategy but they also scare them sometimes to prevent any intervention from the law enforcement groups. The assistance from the police in the drug trafficking operations has been proved at many stages. In 2005, a group of people who were rescued by police officials explained that they had been abducted in the first place by the local police and handed over to the drug cartels. In the year 2007, strong steps were taken against the police officers who were found to be related to the drug cartels (Cook et al 2007). Drug trafficking and the drug cartels have been associated with not only illegal movement of drug but their businesses have led to the loss of many human lives. Tensions amongst the different groups have resulted in many violent incidents (Cook et al 2007). In the second week of May 2012, 49 dead bodies were recovered besides a road in Monterrey. The bodies had their heads, feet and hands chopped off. Similar incidents occurred in this month which included the finding of 18 dead bodies that had been disfigured and 14 heads that were left outside an office in Nuevo Laredo. These cruel incidents have all been linked with the drug cartel operations in Mexico. Experts indicate the fact that the drug trafficking organizations are involved in these acts and these cruel murders are carried out by them to give warnings to opponents, the government agencies and the local people. They people that the purpose of such inhuman murders is to spread fear (Tuckman 2012). Such incidents indicate the heinous crimes that are being conducted by the drug cartels in the country and they also present the need for measures to prevent these acts. With the increase in the deaths of the men in the drug trafficking organizations, an interesting finding has emerged. Women have started of play strong roles in the drug cartel groups and have become important members in this illegal business of drugs in Mexico. Arturo Santamaria who is an expert from the Autonomous University of the State of Sinaloa explained this trend. He put forward the fact that due to the high number of deaths of men from these organizations, women have come forward and taken up the roles of operators in these organizations. Santamaria explained that women who are somehow related to the men involved in the drug business get to have a close picture of how things work and this provides for an easy way for them to take over and become a part of this criminal business. Women were initially involved in the business but used to work in the farmlands or used to transport the drugs. They were also used as tools to lure the government officials. But with time and learning, women are now involved on a larger scale and have become leaders of the drug cartels. Santamaria puts forward that this involvement of women is dangerous because women tend to be smarter and it is difficult for them to be caught. In the month of October in 2011, 46 women who were leading drug cartels were taken in custody by the Mexican law enforcement agencies. This highlights the rise in the involvement of women in drug trafficking organizations (Peres 2012). The drug cartels in Mexico have continued their illegal acts. They use different ways to overcome and face the government action. Drug cartels in Mexico were involved in making copies of the uniforms of the Mexican military. This was to overcome capture. The factory was raided on 24 May 2012 by the government agencies (Krieider 2012). The Mexican drug cartels have been in existence since many years but they started to become prominent since the last few years of the twentieth century. The drug cartels have not only been involved in the illegal movement of drugs but they have been also involved in other criminal activities which include killings, kidnappings as well as robberies. Seven main drug cartels operate in the country and many of them have started working in collaboration. President Felipe Calderon started strong measures against the drug trafficking groups since the year 2006. There have been many deaths following his steps but the drug cartels still persist in the country. This is owing to corruption as well as different tactics being used by them. Women have also started to take up important roles in these organizations which have made things difficult for the law enforcement agencies. Stronger steps and measures need to be taken by the government to prevent the drug trafficking groups from operating. Works Cited BBC. “Mexico country profile.” BBC News. 19 Jan. 2012. Web. 30 May 2012. Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs “Background Note: Mexico.” U.S. Department of State. 16 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 May 2012. Cook, Colleen W. Mexico's Drug Cartels. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, 2007. Web. 30 May 2012. Krieider, Randy. “Mexican Drug Cartels Make Fake Military Uniforms.” ABC News. 25 May 2012. Web. 30 May 2012. Peres, Pablo. “Women on the rise in Mexican drug cartels.” Yahoo News. 27 May 2012. Web. 30 May 2012. Tuckman, Jo. “Mexican drug cartel massacres have method in their brutal madness.” The Guardian. 14 May 2012. Web 30 May 2012. Read More