The Mexican Drug War

The Mexican Drug War: Is It Their War or Ours?

A common news headline in any newspaper or on any news channel these days mentions the “Mexican drug war”. It has become common along the U. S./Mexico border to hear people talking about it at schools, work places and their own neighborhoods - coworkers, classmates and neighbors whom are involved in some way or know someone that is. Violence is seen and heard of on the U.S. side of the border quite frequently which raises the question, why is it called the “Mexican” drug war if it’s happening on American soil? How did this all begin? What does the U.S. have to do with it? “For years, Mexico’s domestic supply of psychoactive raw materials (cannabis, peyote, opium poppies, hallucinogenic

for drugs and cocaine and the potential profits to be made, drug cartels have been battling violently with each other for control of territory in Mexico. And since December 2006, the Mexican government, itself, has been battling with the cartels and drug traffickers (CNN). Mexican President Felipe Calderon “launched a war on the cartels”. “The new president promised that an increasingly violent Mexico would at last become a nation of laws” (Corchado). His method was somewhat successful. They managed to capture or kill “the heads of different cartels. But the unexpected consequences was an explosion of violence throughout the country as lower-level cartel members fought to fill the power vacuum” (Gomez). While Mexico fought the cartels, the cartels fought each other. The condition in Mexico was grim. “Less than 20% of those detained on drug trafficking charges in Mexico were convicted. Cops were underpaid and undertrained and relied on bribes to put food on the table. Millions of young males and females in Mexico were the perfect target for recruiters of drug traffickers” (Corchado). Two of the most notorious drug cartels, which are responsible for most of the brutal violence and heavy trafficking, are the Sinaloa Cartel and the Gulf Cartel. The Sinaloa Cartel is the most dominant and led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. The Gulf Cartel is situated in Matamoros and was one of the “most powerful cartels”