AMU Homeland Security Opinion

Mexican Drug Cartels – Coming to a Neighborhood Near You

By Jenni Hesterman
www.counterterrorforum.com
I found this very interesting interactive product on the AP website. One map illustrates the extent to which Mexican cartel activities have pushed northward into the U.S. and highlights areas controlled by the cartels in Mexico. If you click on a specific cartel, a window pops up with additional info on the cartel’s leadership, etc. Other maps on this site show drug trafficking routes, the gun trade and cartel related deaths.


Narcotrafficking violence in Mexico and around the U.S. border is escalating as the cartels fight for territory and control – this situation is a direct threat to our national security. Why is this violence different from any other criminal activity? Law enforcement, military leadership and government officials as primary targets. The armed “enforcement” wings of the cartels aren’t afraid of the law – they step up, confront and engage. Their tactics are military in nature and the weaponry sophisticated and plentiful. The murders are violent – victims have been tortured, doused with gasoline and burned alive, or dismembered. Recent cartel-related murder cases in the U.S. show the same level of brutality.
The U.S. government continues to expend millions of dollars in training, support and other resources to help Mexico address this serious situation. The states along the border are struggling to keep the violence at bay, and all of our federal law enforcement agencies have detailed extra agents to the border area and into Mexico to assist. The word “crisis” is not an exaggeration. Factor in the possibility of terrorist group activity in the same “space” or a possible liaison in sharing trafficking routes, resources and tactics – and this situation could be potentially catastrophic.
http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_international/mexican_cartels/index.html?SITE=WYCHE

Comments are closed.