Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco -
The United States Justice Dept. says that Mexican drug traffickers have a presence in at least 1,286 American cities. The report was quoted today by Guadalajara's El Informador, and was attributed to the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC). Although NDIC was formerly an agency of Justice, it ceased to exist in June 2012, when its functions were transferred to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Apart from its confusion over bureaucracies, El Informador's report is in accord with what U.S. officials have said several times. Ten months ago, General Charles Jacoby told Sen. John McCain (R. Az.) that Mexican traffickers were at work in at least 1,000 U.S. cities. Jacoby testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee in March 2012, when it held hearings on progress in the Mexican drug war U.S. general delivers qualified drug war report . McCain is Ranking Member of the committee.
An interesting exchange occurred between the two men during that hearing:
McCain: "Why do we know the names of drug bosses in Mexico, but not here in the United States?" Jacoby: "I believe we do know them, to a certain extent; and they're working with street gangs here, which is a problem we're addressing."
If the names of key traffickers are no always known, their cartel affiliations usually are, according to the Justice report. El Informador says they include Los Zetas, Cártel del Golfo, Cártel Beltrán Leyva, Familia Michoacana and Los Caballeros Templarios.
The newspaper compared the geographical range and influence of Mexican drug traffickers in the U.S. to that of the legendary José Doroteo Arango Arámbula (1878 – 1923), better known as Francisco Villa, or simply Pancho Villa. An icon of the Mexican Revolution, Villa and his marauding army staged frequent raids across the border in the early 20th century, including a famous one at Columbus, New Mexico in 1916. But El Informador says Villa was a rank amateur measured against the modern day Mexican narco. The paper characterized trafficking as a veritable "invasion" of U.S. territory.
U.S. citizens are main customers of Mexican cartels
In a related report, the U.S. State Dept. said last week that drug sales to Americans earned Mexican drug cartels $30 billion dollars in 2011. In 2007, according to State, U.S. governmental entities at all levels spent more than $193 billion dollars on drug related law enforcement, as well as on programs focused on health issues and lost productivity in the workplace due to narcotics consumption and addiction. State said that in 2009 almost 22 million Americans were regular drug consumers - up 8% from 2008 - and that the ready availability of drugs in the U.S. increased both the absolute number of users, and their daily dependence upon illegal substances of all types. A study commissioned by the United States Senate in 2011 arrived at a very similar conclusion (The United States is "9% stoned," say U.S. senators - the biggest drugger in the world).
Jan. 16 - To sell their merchandise north of the border, Mexican drug cartels contract out the labor to an estimated 33,000 street gangs in the U.S., which at times form rather unlikely alliances. An article in today's edition El Informador reports an estimated 1.4 million gang members in the U.S. work directly with Mexican narco bosses, and contains an interesting graphic of the leading cartels. It concludes: "If the Mexican cartels are the heart which ships the products to the U.S., the local gangs are the arteries which distribute them. Cartels dominate organized crime in the U.S. through gangs."
Mar. 26 - Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel enjoys 90% market domination in U.S.
Jan. 19 - Dirty money washed in Mexico represents 3.6% of GDP
Jan. 7 - Until drug demand is reduced in the United States, "the violence in Mexico will continue."
Jan. 6 - Mexican drug cartels enjoy global presence via cocaine
Dec. 19 - The drug addict next door
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Los Zetas in Chicago, and U.S. guns "gone walking" in Mexico
In the week ahead: MGRR reports from Puerto Vallarta, 90 days after a brazen attack on its police chief by Los Zetas commandos.
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