Canada and the World
Current Events with a Canadian Perspective
Last update
23 February 2011
Drug War in Mexico
According to the U.S. State Department’s 2008 International Narcotics Control Report, about 90 percent of the cocaine entering America travels through Mexico
Felipe Calderon came to power as Mexico’s President in December 2006. One of his early actions was to deploy thousands of government soldiers to try to shut down the violence among rival drug cartels.
A Council on Foreign Relations report (November 2008) says the results have been
disappointing. The author of the report, Stephanie Hanson, wrote the “death tolls
continue to rise. There were more than 2,500 drug-
Federacion de asociaciones cannabicas
Mexico’s Drug Violence Spreads beyond Gangs
In the beginning, the violence was restricted to battles between members of different drug cartels who were trying to gain control of the best smuggling routes. The violence was extreme with videos of beheadings being distributed to send the message to rivals about the fate that awaited them.
However, points out Ms. Hanson: “In the past two years, police officers, journalists, and politicians have become frequent targets of drug killings. In May 2008, for instance, Mexico’s acting federal police chief was killed in a drug hit.”
Border City is Mexico’s most Dangerous Place
Reporting for BBC News (November 2009), Matthew Price writes that Ciudad “Juarez, is in danger of one day descending into anarchy.” Juarez is just on the Mexican side of the border with the U.S. across the Rio Grande River from El Paso, Texas.
Price points out that President Calderon sent thousands of additional troops to the city but the murder rate keeps going up.
One of the only people Price interviewed for his story who was willing to give his name (others wanted to remain anonymous because they are so afraid of revenge from the drug gangs) was former teacher Luiz Nevarez. He is serving six years in the local jail over drug smuggling.
Price writes that Nevarez “tells me that the Mexican economy functions for an elite
group -
Until the poverty is dealt with, the drug problem will not go away.
America Drives the Demand for Drugs
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admitted that the United States shares the
blame for drug-
During a news conference Mrs. Clinton is quoted by the Los Angeles Times (March 2009)
as saying “We know very well that the drug traffickers are motivated by the demand
for illegal drugs in the United States, that they are armed by the transport of weapons
from the United States to Mexico.”
She also acknowledged that U.S. anti-
Meanwhile, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in Tucson estimates that the drug cartels generate about $10 billion annually from the sale of drugs that pass through Arizona alone.
Mexican Drug Cartels Spread North
Although Canada is one of the safest countries in the world, Vancouver has become known in recent years for its gun crime, especially among drug gangs. According to The Economist (May 2009), since 1997 nearly 450 gangsters have been killed in the city, as a result of “a crackdown on gangs in Mexico and the United States…Vancouver has become a distribution hub in a global drugs trade stretching to Asia and Europe. Local gangs ship out cannabis, amphetamines, and ecstasy made in B.C., importing cocaine, heroin, and guns for the Canadian market.”
The magazine says that as many as 335 gangs might be fighting to take control of a business that is worth an estimated $7 billion a year.
Image credit
drug-
Sources
“Mexico’s Drug War.” Stephanie Hanson, Council on Foreign Relations, November 20, 2008.
“Mexico’s Juarez on Path to Anarchy.” Matthew Price, BBC News, November 19, 2009.
“U.S. Shares Blame for Mexico Drug Violence, Clinton Says.” Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times, March 26, 2009.
“British Columbia or Colombia.” The Economist, May 28, 2009.
“Mexico Detains 14-
“The Epidemic that Threatens the Americas.” Globe and Mail, December 18, 2010.
© Canada and the World, February 2011
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YOUNG HITMAN
In December 2010, the Mexican army arrested Edgar Jimenez Lugo on suspicion of being a killer for drug cartels.
He is 14 years old and was paraded before the media by those who detained him.
Oswald Alonson, reporting for The Globe and Mail (December 4, 2010) writes: “...the boy told reporters that he had participated in at least four decapitations.”
The Economist reports (June 6, 2009) that Mexico is more than just a middleman between Colombian growers and American consumers. “…it is fast becoming a destination for narcotics in its own right. In the past six years drug use is reckoned to have risen by nearly 30 percent, and the trend shows no signs of abating.” The report adds that about 62 percent of violent crimes in the country involve drugs or alcohol.
“In May (2010) Canada signed an anti-
Globe and Mail editorial
December 18, 2010