Reality of War on Mexican Drug Cartels - Research Paper Example

Reality of War on Mexican drug cartels Reality of War on Mexican Drug Cartels The drug war in Mexico goes far beyond just ordinary drug trafficking as it entails actual armed conflicts masterminded by the leaders of the drug trafficking organizations. The armed conflicts as well as the social implications of the drug war are what concern any ordinary citizen as they mean insecurity and deteriorating social values. The topic on drug trafficking and the war against it is commonplace in the US because the proliferation of the drugs issue is stretching beyond the borders of Mexico to cause a real harm in the US soil giving rise to the many drug related issues in the country. With a country that boasts of the best policing, security and cross border impermeability one wonders why the many tax payers’ money in the United States of America spent on the war against drug trafficking in Mexico should not be considered as a waste of public fund. This is because the systems put in place to monitor, control and prevent cross-border movement of drugs are perceived to be failing steadily. With increased violence along the trafficking routes as the cartel lords fight each other for control there is no doubt that there is urgent need for the US and Mexico as mutual participants in the harmful effects of this trend to get back to the drawing board and restructure their approach to the issue with regard to border security, corruption in the Mexican systems of governance and the drug prohibition campaigns. Altogether it is sound to suppose that the drug war in Mexico is failing because of the unsecure U.S./Mexico border, Mexicos corrupt infrastructure, and drug prohibition strategies that rarely work. Mexico/U.S. border insecurity With the recent declaration by President Obama that drug use with the damaging effects it causes must be reduced, our focus shifts on some of eh contributing factors that have led to the prevalence in the vice and activity that the US generally acknowledges as “the greatest organized crime threat to the United States” in the recent times Seelke (4). Even with very high spending on the threat there still looms the dangers of failure in the war whose humiliation to the US might be worse than the Vietnam War while to the world it will be a sign of failure of humanity. As the Mexican authorities acknowledge, the problem is a shared one and will require a shared solution from the border point to other areas within the countries. However the Mexico/US border is considered the firing engine that provides the fuel the cartels need to propagate their activities. The satire of this was the establishment of the Mérida Initiative by the US congress which is a set of legislation allowing provision of funding, training and advising law enforcers in Mexico and America central in enforcing the national justice system. However with the money laundering and movement of huge sums of money across the common border beats the initiative. With the laundered money the traffickers are able to hided in the pretext of purchasing any other normal retail wares for home use when in real sense it is drugs being transacted right at the nose of the officers. It is reported that because of the poor border security, there is already an infiltration of the cartel leaders into the US itself and so transacting within the US with ease and comfort while maintaining the running and use of the drugs. The worry is: with all the initiatives by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) which the Secretary released as official in 2009 (Office of Press Secretary [web]) which are solid and comprehensive initiatives, what then is the reason for the increasing cross border smuggling of drugs and money? One contributing reason is the employment of female and child traffickers who in a way are least suspected on the border even with the use of the non-intrusive drug detecting equipment at the entry points. Therefore as the DHS boss Janet Napolitano notes there is need “to prevent the flow of guns and cash south that fuel these cartels” in order to cub the vice(Office of Press Secretary [web]). The need is based on the recent revelation that over $260 has been smuggled abroad while 524 people have been arrested while 3,275 seizures have been made sine 2005. Such huge sum of money smuggled across borders is an important fuel in the movement of drugs from Mexico across the insecure border. Mexicos corrupt infrastructure Although the cartels have been advancing their influence in the drug market in Mexico through leveling threats to the authorities, there is little doubt that corruption of the officials is an important factor in the laxity of the system to curb the vice. Even as the Mexican president acknowledged that there is need for a shared solution to overcome the shared problem there is more to it than meets the eye in the willingness of the Mexican officials to strongly stand against the menace. The challenge posed with the cartels which include the Sinaloa, Beltrán Leyva La Familia, Los Zetas, Juárez, Los Negros, Tijuana and the Gulf Cartel. All these are traced to the 1980s when the then Mexican Judicial Federal Police agent. Ironically the police agent, Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo was the Godfather manning the cross border smuggling of drugs into the US (Payan 29). Such high level participation in the business must be seen as corruption of the Mexican system that has led to the proliferation of the unethical business in the region. The other side of the coin has it that a government official who stands in the way of the drug dealers opposing the business faces the threats of either loosing his /her popularity if in an electable position or even worse face death by executions masterminded by the cartels. Such intimidation leaves the authority in jeopardy that has non to save except for a real change in the social and cultural systems of the Mexicans as regards drugs. Very few of the leaders are willing to brave it out with the cartel leaders who may happen to even be in the very government they are serving or having connections. The effect of the corruption and prevalent life threats is that the supporting groups such as the US and Canada will terribly fail even as is the case today because any strategy or move to counter the trafficking is muffled by an informer who has been compromised or threatened. This has not gone down well with most US-led operations against drug dealers because leakages in the plan have led to fatal losses in human and material resources. Failure in the drug prohibition strategies The whole essence of drug prohibition is about preventing its use. However it is observed across the board that the effects of drug use prevention are taking a more negative direction compared to the use of the drugs itself. The use of illegal drugs is a criminal offence that has seen many offenders get into jail with many tons of the illegal drugs being impounded and stored in the police warehouses. However the declaration of these drugs to be illegal and subsequent arrests and prosecutions that follow has still not been able to overcome the challenge leave alone preventing their use right from the Harrison Act of 1914 through the alcohol prohibition laws of 1918. This is because the illegal dugs have still found their way into the black market where consumption is prevalent. The prohibition has found challenges because some of the drugs that were then regarded as illegal have been scientifically been proven to have beneficial values and so found their place into some publicly consumed products. And example is morphine derived from opium and closely related to heroin which is said to offer pain relieving effect and so has formed an important ingredient in many patented drugs publicly consumed although opium and morphine are still prohibited (White1344). It is said that cocaine has recreationally been used as an additive in wines and soda such as coca cola while marijuana and cocaine have been found to have medicinal ability over some diseases such as migraines, rheumatic conditions and insomnia problems. Just then the challenge comes with the limit of prohibition because the current list of prohibited drugs has limiting effects on the scientific research carried out on the drugs. Any meaningful drug has been condemned to the shelf because of the prohibition. The effects of the laws of illegal drug prohibition have had their toll on the socio-cultural behavior of many in the society. An example is the breed of hardcore drug runners who have ironically been hardened and trained in the art right under the rehabilitation officers in the prisons. Indeed it is not a surprise to find hard drugs right within the prisons and thorough connections with other dealers whom they relate with upon release from prison. What this implies is that the move to arrest, prosecute ad jail drug dealers, drug pushers and drug users has only helped to graduate small game players into hardened traders in the business who have come from prisons to actively carry on the business on international level which the cross border authority is struggling with. As the government therefore considers the enforcement of prohibition laws on the drugs regarded as illegal there is need to refocus on the methodologies employed in the enforcement so that the approach does not result in more hardened criminals than the ones they arrested. A repeal of the prohibition laws need to be considered so that the enforcement approach focuses more on behavioral change that is gradually and objectively earned compared to the current situation where the convict is expected to subjectively change from a drug user. Counterargument However from the efforts put in place by the US government and expression of interest and willingness by the Mexican authority to overcome the challenge collaterally is a notable and worthwhile move that has traced in many successes and has a hint of success in the war against drug trafficking. For example from 2009 more collaboration has been initiated under the Merida initiative especially in the Southwest border. It is notable that the Mexican are also vigorously confronting the challenges as witnessed in the elimination of some key cartel leaders which is a sign of serious commitment to overcome the menace. Further it is worth noting that drug related issues are fragile issues and have a gel behavior camouflaging within the civilian activities which make dealing with an isolated case fairly challenging (The Associated Press [web]). More so it might not be easy to handle the drug issues because the technological changes are also coming in which complicate ability of authorities to consistently understand techniques used in pushing and trafficking of the drugs. By the end of the day it is also true to say that the efforts made by the US and Mexico to overcome the drug menace are a fair leap in a good directions except for the few logistical and policy issues that hinder a complete curbing of the perpetrators of the vice. Conclusion The approaches to the fight against drug pushing, smuggling and trafficking must be revised at higher levels and lower levels of government including infusion into education curriculum so as to device a self propagating effort. This is because it is observed that the failure of the war is as a result of laxity at the common border, corruption and in the enforcement of drug use prohibition. The public participation in the fight if sought would make the transformation of individuals an objective effort through peer and group counseling acceptable by users and then to the peddlers altogether. The governments should consider some other radical measures such as controlled provision of cheap drugs to drug dependants so as to cut off their connection with the suppliers who are the smugglers. Works cited Seelke, Clare Ribando. Latin America and the Caribbean: Illicit Drug Trafficking and U. S. Counterdrug Programs. DIANE Publishing, 2010. P 4 Office of the Press Secretary. Administration Officials Announce U.S.-Mexico Border Security Policy: a Comprehensive Response & Commitment. March 24, 2009. [web] The Associated Press. AP IMPACT: After 40 years, America’s drug war failing on all front. May 13th, 2010. [web] Payan, Tony. The three U.S.-Mexico border wars: drugs, immigration, and Homeland Security. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. 2006. P 29 White, Lois. Foundations of Nursing. 2nd Edition. Cengage Learning. 2004. P 1344 Read More