After being elected in 2006, Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared war on the drug cartels that controlled drug trafficking both in Mexico and the United States. In 2008 there were 6,000 murders in Mexico that have been connected to various drug cartels. President Calderon’s response to the increasing drug problem was to deploy 4,000 troops to deal with the drug cartels. As a result of this deployment there has been an increase in the number of drugs seized but also an increase in the number of drug related fatalities. According to the BBC the drug cartels are not only at war with each other but also with the Mexican army. The drug problem that the Mexican government is dealing with has managed to make its way across the border.
On August 20, 2009 the United States Attorney General filed charges against 43 individuals for trafficking drugs into the United States. These 43 individuals are alleged to be responsible for the distributing more than 200 metric tons of cocaine in the United States in an 18 year period. The cities located along the border shared by Mexico and the united States have experienced the most violence.
On March 23, 2009 the New York Times reported that there has been an increase in home invasion robberies since the war on drug cartels was declared. A number of these robberies have been linked to repayment of debts owed to drug traffickers. Another case of violence caused by Mexican drug cartels in the United States occurred in Diego. This incident involved 17 members of the Arrellano-Felix drug cartel that killed a total of nine people in a three year period.
Most of the murders linked to the various drug cartels have involved participants of the drug trade.
Drug related crimes are not a recent development in the United States. What is alarming is the level of organization involved in not only creating but also running a drug cartel. The mass amount of drugs being smuggled into the United States by these cartels is a cause for concern. The dismantling of these cartels is a start to curbing the illicit drug trade in the United States
Works cited:
Top Mexican drug dealers among dozens indicted in U.S., officials say
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-drug-cartels21-2009aug21,0,3757559.story
Mexican Drug Cartel Violence Spills Over, Alarming U.S.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/23/us/23border.html
Q&A: Mexico's drug-fuelled violence
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7906284.stm
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