Drug problem increasingly arising around the world due to using and transporting illegal drugs stands as an urgent problem. Their detrimental effect endangering people’s lives is well known, but it does not decrease the demand for them, especially in unwealthy regions. The drug’s popularity and associated high price led to the inevitable appearance of illegal drug trade organizations, known as drug cartels. Mexican drug cartels, as one of the most powerful and well-known internationally, present the primary focus of interest in the research paper. An in-depth investigation of the issue of drug cartels in Mexico is performed through the examination of the definition, background, war on drugs, and the most potent drug alliances.
Definition of a Drug Cartel
Since the 80s, drug cartels have flooded the narcotics market and established themselves as competitors to the government drug policies. A drug cartel is an independent organization that controls the production and distribution of illegal drugs (Murphy et al. 2). They control extensive territories in the country based on the division between cartels. The cartel’s structure is typically a strict hierarchy that is well-organized and well-financed. They operate primarily on violence and are often responsible for kidnappings, political corruption, and assassinations. The local and federal police and drug dealers suffered the most, especially in border regions such as Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez.
Background
Drug use keeps growing increasingly over the last few years due to the marketing tactics intended to increase illicit drug customer amounts. The illegal drugs that kept storing due to border security pressure were needed to be distributed among the population. Thus, the drug cartels started to offer free doses to Mexicans to get them hooked. The biggest targets were young people and students, preferably women. The product began circulating in the country, with the dealers accepting the payment in drugs as well. The estimated wholesale of illegal drugs is from about $13 to $50 billion every year (Guillermo and Ley 935). Mexico became a critical drug market instead of just being a transit country.
Mexico is one of the most well-known producers of such drugs as marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine. The conjunction location with the U.S. and drug popularity there made it the perfect stable market that predisposed the growth of the cartels’ power. In collaboration with Colombian drug cartels that also had the U.S. as its primary cocaine buyer, Mexican drug manufacturing and trafficking only expanded. With the Colombian cocaine losing a lot of money for trafficking, Mexico took over the supplies using the already existing tunnels and other distribution channels. The trafficking became sneakier, increasing the problem for the government to limit the trade. The old ways of shipping the drugs from the Caribbean now change to using southern ports and airlifting across the border. With the war on drugs escalated, the drug trafficking patterns only kept changing. The U.S. government also increased border security after September 11, 2001, as well as invested in surveillance and monitoring (Guillermo and Ley 935). This combination of factors led to the inevitable war on drugs.
Mexican war on drugs
The Mexican war on drugs is the Mexican federal part of the global war on drugs initiated by the U.S. government. At the moment, the state of the war can be described as a continuous conflict of low intensity between several drug cartels and the Mexican government. Drug-related violence was the primary basis for government intervention with the use of military beginning in 2006 (Goldberg 429). The government’s consideration was to dismantle the mightly power structures of drug cartels and limit drug trafficking to the U.S.
However, violence escalated instead when the government intervened. The arrest of famous drug cartel leaders such as Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo in 1989 provoked intense military actions (Goldberg 429). His arrest broke the Guadalajara cartel’s alliance and led to the high-ranking members forming separate cartels that rule over Mexico now. The attempt to break the hierarchy resulted in the new power struggle among the new arising battle for territory and trafficking routes between the Sino, Juarez, Tijuana, and Sonora Cartel. Their influence grew to dominate the wholesale illegal drug market and control of the drugs entering and leaving the country. The following arrests of the most prominent drug leaders, primarily of Tijuana and Gulf cartels, in result, led to growing drug violence in an attempt to control the trafficking routes into America.
The enforcement agencies have been reorganized multiple times since the start of the campaign to battle cartel violence effectively. The special forces were created out of corruption-free forces to battle the system but without success. The number of people who suffered through it is terrifying. AT least 150,000 are noted as dead, and 30,000 missing due to the Mexican drug was as of 2006 (Dulin 2). The enduringly long war with cartels, unfortunately, did not lead to the liberation of the people, not from drugs, nor from violence as the cartels continue their activity.
Most Powerful Cartels
Mexico is now divided into the three major drug syndicates known as Sinaloa, The Jalisco New Generation, and the Gulf cartels that share the territory, and each has distinguishing features. The Sinaloa Cartel reigns over the northwest of the country and is considered one of the largest trafficking organizations worldwide. It was founded in the 1980s by the notorious lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán (Guillermo and Ley 931). Under El Chapo’s leadership, the cartel notably became the largest supplier of illicit drugs to the U.S. (Guillermo and Ley 918). His leadership also allowed the cartel to establish its reputation as a vicious, violent drug cartel that battles for territory with other competitors. Sinaloa is infamous for its violent attacks on rival gangs. They slaughtered, tortured, and kidnapped the gang members using an immense arsenal of weapons. However, the massacre lasted only this long until the leader was caught by authorities and sentenced to a lifetime in prison in 2019. The cartel opposed their leader’s incarceration with open fights, arsons, confrontations with the military, and even El Chapo’s break out of prison. The other groups saw this fact as a chance to take advantage of, but The Sinaloa Cartel still remains very powerful and dominates Mexico’s northwest. The trade of drugs is believed to be continued by El Chapo’s son Ovidio Guzmán Lopez. The following endurance underlines the cartel’s incredible might.
The Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) controls the west of Mexico, mainly in the Tierra Caliente region, since about 2010. It is considered one of the greatest and strongest rivals to Sinaloa and is now among the most dominant violent crime groups. The cartel leader is Ruben Oseguera, known as El Mechco (Guillermo and Ley 906), who is now Mexico’s most wanted man. CJNS’s market is primarily synthetic drugs distributed on the continent but also has connections in Europe and Asia. It is considered one of the most violent groups that grow in territory and subordinates fuelled by aggression. The attacks include killing state officials, bombarding the facilities, and hanging the bodies to scare their rivals.
The Gulf Cartel is located in the northeast along with the state of Tamaulipas. It is known for being one of the oldest cartels starting its activity in the 1980s with its collaboration with Colombia (Guillermo and Ley 920). The cartel’s initial leader was Juan García Abrego, who was put in jail for a lifetime after becoming a historical person included in the FBI’s top 10 wanted list in 1996 (Guillermo and Ley 917). The cartel continued its activity with the leader’s heir Osiel Cardenas Guillen, who focused on building military advantage and introducing a more violent approach. He was later caught, and the cartel changed a succession of leaders again. The clan was later divided but kept continuing to mostly affect the drug trafficking and manufacture in the country.
Drug usage and distribution have undoubtedly been one of the most heavily fought against processes that have unfortunately not brought many fruitful results. The cartels continue terrorizing the population through violence and drug distribution. The new ways of battling this phenomenon are essential to finding a better alternative than losing numerous people’s lives. Drug problem stances as an urgent issue needing to have a solution soon, which requires a deep understanding of its nature.
Works Cited
Dulin, Adam. “Mexican Cartel Negotiative Interactions With The State.” Trends in Organized Crime, 2019, pp. 1-21.
Goldberg, Stacey Michelle, “Crossing Borders: Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations Influence On Interstate Gang Structure.” Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations, 2016, p. 429.
Trejo, Guillermo, and Sandra Ley. “Why Did Drug Cartels Go to War in Mexico? Subnational Party Alternation, the Breakdown of Criminal Protection, and the Onset of Large-Scale Violence.” Comparative Political Studies, vol. 51, no. 7, 2018, pp. 900–937, Web.
Murphy, Tommy E., and Martín A. Rossi. “Following the poppy trail: Origins and consequences of Mexican drug cartels.” Journal of Development Economics, vol. 143, no. 1024332020, 2020, pp. 1-17.