Mexican Drug Cartels Research Paper

The Mexican drug cartel has remained one of the largest, most sophisticated, and dangerous organized crime groups in the world since it emerged in the 1960s. The cartel ships tons of drugs, weapons, and humans into the United States and other neighboring countries each year. It exports various illegal narcotics including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. It’s a billion dollar business that has numerous different cartels and gangs fighting over different drug paths, cities, and towns. Since the mid 2000s, the Mexican government has attempted to combat these groups by deploying soldiers, marines, and federal police. They’ve taken down the leaders of many powerful cartels, but now these large cartels have divided into many dangerous

Murders are extremely common, especially in towns that intersect with popular drug trafficking routes and trails. As Kate Linthicum states in her article, “More and more people are being murdered in Mexico — and once more drug cartels are to blame,” 2017 saw a huge spike in violence. Federal statistics show nearly 2,000 people killed in just the first month of 2017. Higher than in any January since federal officials began releasing crime data in the 1990s. The Mexican government didn’t clarify which deaths were tied to the cartels, but some crime experts have estimated that Narco-violence could account for up to half of the total (Linthicum) . Many cartel related murders are carried out using brutal forms of decapitation and torture. Cartel members will decapitate individuals and display their disembodied heads in graphic videos and images similar to many executions performed by middle eastern terrorists. A large portion of drug related murders are cartel on cartel, but many are cartel murdering locals who interfere with or oppose drug activities. Mexican citizens are distraught by the lack of investigations by local police into the murders of friends, family, and neighbors. Locals murders are very rarely acknowledged by local news stations and publications. People are scared and concerned that they or someone they know could be a victim of the cartel’s deadly

When cartels are in need of extra dough, they commonly turn to abduction. The kidnapping scene has been so profitable that many cartel members have broken off and become independent kidnappers. They will target wealthy individuals including government officials, corporate officials, police, tourists, and locals. They target family members or friends of the victim and kidnap them, commonly bringing them to secluded areas and buildings. Many of these captives will be tortured, beaten, and raped by their capturers. According to the article, “Our World: Kidnapped In Mexico” by: Vladimir Hernandez, a study found that barely 1 percent of the total estimate of kidnappings gets reported to the police. That 1 percent is very close to the figure for kidnappings that the government puts out, which is between 1,500 to 1,700 per year opposed to the estimated 100,000 kidnappings that happen each year. (Hernandez) The reason that many of these kidnappings aren’t reported is because are fearful that their family or friends will be executed by the kidnappers. Many of the hostages are murdered and disposed of even if the cartels demands are met. Another reason that so many of these kidnappings aren’t reported is because of police corruption. According to “Drug cartels have turned social-media sites like Facebook into one of their most potent weapons.” written by: Christopher Woody, In 2016 about 80% of Mexican kidnappings were