The Drug Cartel

BY :

By: Pedro Cruz,

MEXICAN DRUG CARTELThe beginning of Mexican drug cartels was birthed and traced to former Mexican Judicial

Federal Police agent Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, better known as “The Godfather“. Miguel controlled all illegal drug trade in Mexico as well as the trafficking corridors across the Mexico-USA border throughout the 1980s.

Miguel begin smuggling marijuana and opium into the U.S.A., and was the first Mexican drug chief to connect with Colombia's cocaine cartels in the 1980.

There were no cartels at that time in Mexico. He was the God of Mexican drug smugglers. He oversaw all operations; there was just him, his cronies, and the politicians who sold him protection. From there Miguel expanded and drug cartels were established such as:

Tijuana Cartel

Beltrán Leyva Cartel

Sinaloa Cartel

Juárez Cartel

La Familia Michoacana

Gulf Cartel

Los Zetas

BACKGROUND : CORRUPTION

• Government corruption• Ranked 2nd most corrupt police force in the world

• Chooses whichever side pays them more

• First hand experience

Rising of Drug cartel in Mexico

• Because of the geographic location it has always been at the center for transportation of narcotics• Mexico Controls around 70% of narcotics flowing into the U.S

• Since the demise of the Columbian Cartels in the 1990s Cartels have become more powerful

• Sales from 13 – 48 billion

INSTITUTIONAL REVOLUTIONARY PARTY (PRI)

Pena Nieto- Current President of Mexico

Resposible for Corruption, Repression, Economic Mismanagement, Electoral Fraud

Making deals with cartels

Immigrants afraid to go back

THE WAR ON DRUGS: FEL IPE CALDERON December 1, 2006:

Felipe Calderon Assumes Presidency (declares war on drugs)

Operation Michoacana is launched (against La familia Michoacan Cartel )

Year 2007: Sergio Gomez is

kidnapped and killed Police of Baja

California had guns taken (thought to have collaborated with cartels)

From 2008 – 2010: deaths in the thousands

DRUGS THAT ARE BEING SOLD:• Methamphetamine- Drug that is smoked, snorted, or

injected; high rate of dependency (Meth)

• Cannabis- Trafficking of cannabis is not as much as used to be for the reasons of modern-day US Manufacturing

• Cocaine- Exported from Colombia through Mexico on to the US; the world consumes roughly 600,000 kilos of cocaine annually as of 2000 (DOD)

(Meth)

(Wash)

SOLUTIONS

Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA)- “a nonprofit, tax-exempt independent research and information organization, was established to promote the common interests of the hemisphere”(COHA)

• Time is to reevaluate failed drug policies and move towards a new route: Decriminalization and/or Legalization

• US-Mexico Drug Summit (MPP)

• 40 years since the declaration of the “War On Drugs”, more than $1 trillion of tax payer money has been wasted.

• “A senior Mexican Official has spent more than two decades helping fight the war on drugs summed up recently what he’s learned from his long career: “This war is not winnable””(WSJ)

(CAY)

OTHER AREAS EFFECTED BY MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS

• Colombia

• Peru

• Guatemala

• Honduras

• Venezuela

• El Salvador

• Nicaragua

• The United States

MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS PRESENT IN DIFF. CONTINENTS

• Five continents currently being effected by Mexican Drug Cartels

• Egypt, New Zealand, Greece, Turkey, and China

• Over 41 countries effected

• Detainees asked for the Mexican Consulate legal representation

(Mex)

"Spanish Language Gifts, Presents and Products." : Hola Tote Bag: Spanish Flag Colors & Smiley Face. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <http://spanishlanguagegifts.blogspot.com>

MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION EFFECTS

• $ 2.797 Billion lost in the legalization of Marijuana in CO and WA

• Human smuggling and kidnapping make up a large portion of revenues

• Uruguay President Jose Mujica legalized pot to cut out dealers

• Most revenues are from Cocaine and Methamphetamines

• Safer access to marijuana

• People know where their medicine is coming from

"US Senate Passes Bill for the Increased Security of Mexican Border." Seer Press. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

VIOLENCE SPREADING

• At least 259 U.S. citizens were murdered in Mexico from December 2006 to February 2011

• U.S. citizen deaths in Mexico that are due to violence (cartel-related or not) has risen from 23.7% in 2003-2005 to 32.6% in 2008-June 2010

• 5 Nov--55 to 100 killed in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, in day-long gun battle between Mexican military and cartel members; international bridges to Texas closed; 660 Mexican marines, 30 helicopters, and 17 land vehicles involved

• And since 2006, the death toll is thought to exceed 70,000 — or nearly 20 times more than NATO combat deaths in Afghanistan, adds the paper.

• Mexican cartels like the infamous Zetas have extended their reach into the US by literally deploying entire units to oversee domestic operations.

http://rt.com/usa/drug-us-mexican-cartels-177/

http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/terrorism/mexicodrugwar.html

WORKS CITED• DOD.”The Cocaine Threat: A Hemispheric Perspective.” Department of Defense. United States of America, 11 Sept.

2008. Web. 5 Nov. 2013. (DOD)

• "Methamphetamine." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 May 2013. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. (Meth)

• Meth Overview. N.d. Photograph. Methamphetamine.org. Methamphetamine.org.California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, 2007. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.

• N.d. Photograph. Levinepirolaw.com. Melissa Levine, 26 Mar. 2013. Web. 5 Nov.2013.

• "Council on Hemispheric Affairs." Council on Hemispheric Affairs. COHA, n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.(COHA)

• Luhnow, David. "Saving Mexico." Wall Street Journal 26 Dec. 2009: n. pag. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.(WSJ)

• N.d. Photograph. Caycompass.com. Caymanian Compass, 15 July 2009. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.(CAY)

• "Marijuana Policy Project." U.S.-Mexico Drug Summit Fails to Acknowledge Obvious Solution to Violent DrugCartels. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.(MPP)

• "Mexican Cartel Activity Has Already Affected Five Continents." U.S. Open Borders. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <http://usopenborders.com>(mex)

• Khazan, Olga. "How Marijuana Legalization Will Affect Mexico's Cartels." Washington Post. Washington Post, 9 Nov. 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.(Wash)

• "The Border Monsters". Time Magazine. 2001. Retrieved 2010-02-08