The Mexican Drug War

1. Chicago has compared him to Al Capone. He is rich, powerful, and one of the most dangerous men in Mexico. The great drug kingpin Joaqin “El Chapo” Guzman is the leader of the sinola cartel, the most powerful in Mexico. Recently escaped from the confines of a maximum security prison through a mile long tunnel which started at his shower.

Mexico as a nation is relatively new, only gaining independence from Spain some 300 years ago. During this time of independence, Mexico had trouble getting on their feet and was a newly nationalized nation. In the book “A Glorious Defeat, Mexico and its War with the United States” by Timothy J. Henderson, the author, gives insight into the newly founded nation of Mexico, and how they came to be. Henderson also gives the reader an in-depth point of view from Mexico pertaining to the Mexican-American war, from how it led up to it and the events that happened during it. Being a newly founded nation, Mexico was strongly defined on expressing their own nationalistic values and ideas, most of which were passed on through the long history of Spanish

For years, the United States and Mexico have been engaged in operations to halt the production of drugs south of the border as well as their shipment to the United States, which is world’s largest drug market.   However, the genesis of the current Drug War is commonly traced back to the 2000s for a couple of reasons.  Just days after taking office in December 2006, Mexican President Felipe Calderon  kicked off a veritable “war” against the cartels when he sent 6,500 soldiers and police into his home state of Michoacan to  organized crime  in this area. Mexican society is largely homogeneous and socially conservative.

Sinaloa Cartel was founded in the 1980s by Joaquín Guzmán, Juan José Esparragoza Moreno, Ismael Zambada García, and Héctor Luis Palma Salazar. They are located in Culiacán, Sinaloa state, Mexico, and primarily sell Narcotics. They are mostly known for selling illegal drugs, Smuggly drugs to the U.S., and disrupting Narcotics through Mexico/United States. We will see how the Sinaloa Cartel operates throughout the United States. Sinaloa Cartel operates by creating and selling drugs such as Cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, Marijuana, and Methamphetamine.

Since there was a drug, war going on between two established Hispanic gangs. The Barrio Azteca was able to quickly grow in large numbers without much problems. They began to recruit new inmates coming into the prison for violent gang crimes. By 1996, the Barrio Azteca had grown to become the one of the most powerful criminal enterprises of southern Texas. Due in part to the increasing deportations of many of their gang members, the gang was able to expand their territory across the border into Mexico.

Mexican-American war is the war between the United States and Mexico that began in 1846 and ended in 1848. The United States and Mexico disagreed over the border between the countries. President John Tyler and James k. Polk wanted Mexican territory that was blocking US expansion West in pursuance of Manifest Destiny. Before 1836, Texas was originally the northern part of Mexico which used to be called the Republic of Texas. In 1845, Texas became the 28th state of the United States.

Guzman shifted his control to the eastern states of Northern Mexico (Durango, Coahuila, and Chihuahua) and violence has increased in Mexico and has spread into the border towns of Texas. In order to alleviate drug crime and murders in Mexico and Texas, it would be prudent to put “El Chapo” out of business. Since drug crime in California has decreased after legalization, it seems plausible to adopt such a law to mitigate drug crime in Texas and our neighbor, Mexico.”

According to Brianna Lee in Mexico’s Drug War, “more than 90 percent of cocaine now travels through Mexico into the United States, up from 77 percent in 2003.” Therefore, drug trafficking is at a higher Smith 2 rate than it was 12 years ago with just one illegal drug. With other illegal drugs that are trafficking added to this list the percentage would grow and the demand of illegal drugs will rise. We have to also keep in mind that this drug trafficking alone is only into the United States, imagine how high the demand of illegal drugs is in other countries coming from Mexico. The war on drugs has failed for many years, and is the reason drug trafficking is still highly rising.

The U.S and Mexican border has always caused conflict in both countries since Europeans came to the Americas. The Spanish settled what is nowadays Mexico, while the English settled what is nowadays U.S. Eventually the two colonial powers met in what is now southwestern U.S. thus began a lifelong conflict between the two countries because of different national policies. Mexico had a policy of self protection.

The 2002 University of Washington made a study about the drug war in Seattle. They focused on African Americans and whites who both races sold drugs. The study found that white people were the ones who had a bigger drug business than African Americans. The only difference was that white people sold drugs in doors. They were located in middle class neighborhoods where there was no crime going on, therefore; it was more difficult for the police to detect their criminal activity.

Throughout the years it has been seen how Narcos have been taking over the lives of innocent people in the city of Mexico. Authorities have not even bothered on setting up an investigation, because it is believed they were involved in the incident as well. Narcos are known for buying over law enforcement, and if the president doesn’t do anything to stop these inhumane people, then when we least know it, it will take over the government itself, and the people of Mexico city will be in a risk of more danger than they already are. The incident of the article is based mainly on the government being part of the 43 disappeared students.

The legalization of drugs has been at the center of interminable debate. Drugs have widely been perceived as a dominant threat to the moral fabric of society. Drug use has been attributed as the source responsible for a myriad of key issues. For instance, it is believed that drugs have exacerbated the already weak status of mental health in the United States in which some individuals suffering from mental illness administer illicit substances such as heroin or cocaine in an attempt to self-medicate. Moreover, drugs are blamed for turning auspicious members of the community into worthless degenerates.

El Chapo was one of the most infamous drug lords that didn’t have their voice heard. When El Chapo escaped from prison it was a raining night and he hijacked two cars. El Chapo Guzman states that his Sinaloa cartel isn’t a “top-down corporation but a federation of tens of thousands of criminals.” Out of those tens of thousands of criminals they’re farmers, smugglers, corrupt police officers, and accountants. In 2006, Mexican police reported 11,800 murders, which rose to 22,800 in 2011, and dropped back to 15,600 in 2014.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Mexican Soldiers gained upon us, and fired. The attack led with surprised war cries... The Mexican American War impacted many lives. It determined if Mexico was able to keep California and Texas away from America’s grasp. In 1821, Mexico won it’s independence from Spain.

In order to fill their labor needs, the U.S. government worked with the Mexican government to encourage immigration, providing access to land, labor, and other resources. This solution proved to be temporary. While at first Mexican immigrants were not the primary targets of U.S. immigration restrictions, due to a combination socio-economic factors, they would soon become the most targeted group of immigrants. The following chapters in part one discuss the growing violence of border patrol. The Border Patrol was fairly new and immigration officers struggled to maintain ethical and fair.