A Discussion of the Drug War in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico - Essay Example

Full Full A Discussion of the Drug War in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico Mexico is currently going through very trying times characterized by extreme ruthless gangster style violence and arson on a daily basis. It is reported that the immediate cause of this sudden lawlessness in this Central American country is due to the feuding combat between notorious drug cartels that are engaged in a bloody struggle for control over trafficking roots amidst the strengthening counter offensive from the federal government. Indeed, even though the drug violence is currently being staged across the length and breadth of the country, Ciudad Juarez, a city located on the boarder line with the United Sates is experiencing the ugliest brunt of the drug war. Official figures released indicates that as of the close of 2008 there had being close to 1,500 cases of criminal assassinations linked to the feuding drug cartels (Ellingwood, 2008). It is against this background that the thrust of this essay will be addressing the scope of the escalating drug related violence that have engulfed the city of Ciudad Juarez in the recent past. It is no exaggeration to say that violence in its various forms is a common feature in Mexico, yet the situation in Ciudad Juarez is an exceptional case of extreme gangster inspired barbarism and carnage that has left an otherwise peaceful population terrified due to the terrorism unleashed on every body without regard for designated targets. This assertion is proven by the increasing number of innocent victims who are made sacrificial lambs in the heated drug related violence between the feuding gangs on the one side and the federal government forces on the other side. In mincing no words, the ongoing violence in Ciudad Juarez is a clear reflection of the extent to which the looming crisis has degenerated to appalling depths. There is no part of the city of 1.3 million inhabitants that is immune to the catastrophe. Almost one third of all the recorded assassinations in Mexico in 2008 occurred in the city of Ciudad Juarez, a clear indication of the state of affairs there; more frightening is the bleakness of the prospects of bringing these acts to a permanent end. In a rather unconventional style, almost anybody can be a target either through accident or design. There have been reports of innocent children who have been caught up in the crossfire as rival cartels exchange gun fire in open broad day light in street corners. This does not include members of the security forces who have also being targeted by the gangs in a series of assassination as a means of sounding signals to the counter trafficking force to stay away from the operational path of these merciless folks. When it comes to infighting within and amongst the rival drug cartels a new trend has emerged which involves the beheading of perceived and real enemies and hanging their lifeless bodies in public places often with an accompanying note indicating the group the group that claims responsibility for the gruesome act. Murder is not the only form of lawlessness that has besieged the city—kidnappings, torching of public and private houses and businesses have also emerged as yet another terror instrument used either to intimidate, silence and even extortion all within the activities of lawless drug gangsters. High profiled personalities and ordinary people are all targets in this campaign of violence. The Clandestine Drug Industry Mexico is the leading transit point through which the various assorted contraband psychoactive substances are exported to a large and ready market located in the United States. The production and distribution of these substances such as marijuana, cocaine and heroine have deep seated historical roots dating back to several centuries. Hitherto the outlaw of these psychoactive substances its usage was strictly confined to the primitive indigenous people of South America during the staging of their regular cultural rituals. However, an increase in global demand for these commodities in the mid parts of the twentieth century resulted in an upward adjustment in the production and distribution of these substances, thus resulting in the emergence and fortification of commercial drug cartels as a substantive replacement of the previously purely agrarian practice. Much of the drugs trafficked through Mexico are produced in the deep Amazon jungles of South America with countries like Columbia ranking high in the production of the illicit product. Colombian produced coca is estimated to occupy close to 70% of global stock with a corresponding dominance of the world cocaine export. The mistaken impression widely held in the early days of the narcotic trade was a lopsided emphasis on its potential contribution to the economic prospects of a proliferating country. In retrospect, it has become abundantly evident that the production of these illicit substances primarily used to fund the activities of criminal elements like guerillas and paramilitary organizations pose a serious threat to the social, economic and political wellbeing of a country as in the case of Mexico (Thoumi 2002). There is therefore no gain arguing against the fact that no meaningful economic activity can be carried out in an environment characterized by lawlessness and social apprehension. Therefore, it is glaring that Mexico’s notorious underground narcotic industry is the main impediment to her drive towards economic prosperity. According to (Gibbs 2002), much of the known information pertaining to the modus operandi of narcotic organizations as business entities available in either the academic or public sector is so limited in scope. What most researchers and writers have thus been able to achieve at best can be said to be very scanty and often superficial without adequate verifiable scientific proofs. What is however certain is that most often than not, these researchers have resorted to the lame application of some conventional economic theories to explain the open part of the industry whilst the core of the industry is still shrouded in unspeakable mystery. Another visible sign of weakness in the process towards researching into the narcotics industry is the inability to clearly explain the marketing practices and their accompanying techniques as per carrying out the business. It is certainly understandable taking cognizance of the fact that the industry continues to rank high on the list of globally blacklisted industries. Sadly, Mexico remains one of the countries in the world that is suffering from the pervasive effects of the narcotics industry with its numerous criminal cartel groups that have held almost all sectors of the country in ransom progressively bringing the nation down its knees. Evidence of this is felt in the state of the general weakness of institutional capacity spanning law enforcement, civil rights, social security and a host of other sensitive national areas. A discussion of the narcotic industry in Mexico will be incomplete without a discussion committed to exploring the destructive role played by the notorious gang cartels. The drug cartels by dint of persistent proliferation have left a culture of brutality, violence and travesty of justice. Judging from the appalling condition in Mexico and its possible spill over effect that can engulf the entire Latin America, the current President Felipe Calderon has embarked on a radical ambition to crack down the foundational structures of these outlawed groups in fulfillment of his election campaign promise a little over three years ago. As the war against the drug trafficking and its attendant aura of violence gained steam the federal government came to terms with the fact that its campaign is being threatened by high ranking infiltrators on the payroll of the cartels. These infiltrators who are within the top hierarchy of the anti-drug trafficking law enforcement agencies happened to be the source of classified crack down information to the outlawed drug cartels. By and large the level of pervasive corruption that has eaten deep into the rank and file of the anti-drug trafficking law enforcement agencies is casting major doubts about the possibility of ever winning the war against the drug traffickers and eventually bring an end to the mayhem they are causing all over the city of Ciudad Juarez. The narcotics industry is definitely neither not a welcomed endeavor for the sovereignty of Mexico nor is it a source of hope to the entire Latin America region. In view of the afore mentioned there is the need to redouble on going campaigns to bring the drug industry to an arbitrary end so as to propel Mexico and for that matter Ciudad Juarez to her rightful destiny. An Analysis of the Drug Cartels In order to get to the bottom of this canker, it will be prudent to delve into questions that will better enhance the understanding of why Mexico in generally and the city of Ciudad Juarez is the hardest hit in the drug violence campaign that is hitting headlines across the world. Judging by its strategic geographic location, Mexico is a very ideal connecting route between the production sites located deep down the Amazon jungles in South America and the drug consuming clients in the United States. In others words her geographic location puts her in a favorable position to facilitate the in and outs of all forms of contraband products including ammunitions into and out of the United States. Incidentally, this is the area of the transshipment process that is under the direct control of the cartel groups. In the last few years internal power struggle amongst the cartels over the strategic control of lucrative turf grounds has being so bloody resulting in the purging of the non-resilient groups much to the dominating prowls of the big shots like Gulf, Tijuana, and Sinaloa. The assassination of the supreme commander of the Juarez cartel in 2005 by rival gangs sparked off an unprecedented violent competition to take over control of the profitable route enjoyed by the Juarez cartel. Resilient forces within the remnant Juarez cartel are still engaged in a fierce battle that will ensure that they do not cede their power base to their rivals, thus making the city of Ciudad Juarez the scene of the bloody rivalry campaign between them and the neighboring Sinalao cartel located right across the next door. An interesting trend in the underworld drug cartel industry is that no single cartel group can claim a permanent exclusive preserve of power. With the passage of time the control of power keeps alternating between the groups as old folks loose strategic grounds to more aggressive or militant entrants with the case of the Juarez cartel serving as a case in point. The maintenance and observance of peace among the leading cartels is often subject to the compliance of laid down treaties until a violation occurs from any of the parties then the floodgates of chaos flies open. Leadership vacuums is also another viable source of friction amongst cartel members as they each engage in regular scuffle to rise through the ranks and consolidate authority. Following the death of Ramon Arellano, a notorious leader of the Tijuana cartel in a bloody gunfire exchange with police coupled with the arrest of Mr. Cardenas the leader of the Gulf cartel, the struggle for power succession within both gangs has been so fierce and frightening as rivals stop at nothing to eliminate each other resulting in a bizarre trend that can be likened to a campaigned that can be said to be nothing less than mutual annihilation. Whilst the infighting intensified, another rival cartel, the Sinalao ceased the opportunity created by the fracas and power struggle within the Gulf and Tijuana cartels to extend its control over the major trade routes entering the territory of the United States. As the Tijuana and Gulf cartels become aware of the destructive effects their fighting was having on their activities which in stark contrast was serving as the basis for Sinalao’s success, the two gangs brokered a ceasefire deal and instead used the opportunity to redirect their campaign to topple Sinalao in a desperate bid to take control of the routes going through the Texas boarder. Meanwhile, this deal was short-lived since mistrust and acute power struggle begun to rare its ugly head again among the criminal cartels. A result of this power break down is the intense fighting amongst the leading cartels being staged in the city of Ciudad Juarez. Violence between Mexican drug cartels is not a recent feature, except that the scope of the brutality being unleashed has assumed a very precarious dimension. One of the immediate reasons for not just the escalation but also the sophistication of the recent assassinations carried out by cartel organizations is that they have progressively being able to recruit into their ranks personnel with powerful expertise in military software and hardware technology as part of the process of carrying out the elimination of their perceived enemies. Recent evidence proves that among others retired and even active service personnel in the security services such as the army and the elite police units are on the payroll of major drug cartel organizations. Their inclusion has increased the ability of the criminal cartel organizations to carry out their barbaric acts with explicit military tact and precision leaving conventional law enforcement agencies a step behind them. The planning and execution of their operations are based on credible intelligence information trickling down to them from well informed insiders within these agencies that are other wise supposed to be working to counter the operations of the criminal cartels. As of today, almost all the three major cartel groups have active and functional paramilitary groups charged with the mandate of doing nothing besides killing and killing! The Gulf cartel has the most dreaded paramilitary group constituted of former anti-drug paratroopers and intelligence specialists who formerly served in the Federal Special Air Mobile Force Group. In many ways, the continuous existence and operations of the criminal cartel organizations means that drug related violence will remain a living reality at least in the interim. Going by the level of tact and discipline that defines the operations of the gangs provides an indication of the fact that the government’s agenda of rooting out drug criminal elements from the city of Ciudad Juarez and other cities will be a fleeting illusion that will never be realized if comprehensive measures are not adopted as a matter of urgency. Among such measures should be the immediate overhaul and purging of the police and military forces off corrupt criminal infiltrators. There is no doubt that the violence in the city of Ciudad Juarez has left the populace bewildered and crippled every form of legal socioeconomic activities by creating room for illicit drug proliferation to thrive in broad day light. Civility, tranquility and social respite remains the most desired values of the terrorized citizenry of the township and by extension the entire country. Reference: Ellingwood, Ken. “Extreme drug violence grips Mexico border city.” Los Angeles Times, December 19, 2008. Accessed on February 19, 2009 from http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-juarezkillings20-2008dec20,0,6538856 Gibbs, John. “AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: HOW NARCOTICS TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATIONS OPERATE AS BUSINESSES” A Report Prepared by the Federal Research Division, Library of Congress under an Interagency Agreement with the United States Government. 2002. Accessed on February 19, 2009 from www.loc.gov/frd/pdf-files/Bibliography-Narcotics Thoumi, Francisco. “Illegal drugs in Columbia: From illegal economic boom to social crisis.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2002: 582. Wilkinson, Tracy. “Drug-related killings have taken thousands of lives, but now those uninvolved in the cartel battles are falling victim, even children.” Los Angeles Times, July 16, 2008. Accessed on February 18, 2009 from http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-innocents16-2008jul16,0,4608414.story Read More