Mexican states will spend $1.17 billion on security in 2013

Drug war has many costs, direct and indirect

*Updated Apr. 9*
Guadalajara -
Whether measured by direct outlays for policing or the heavy impact on national commerce, Mexico's 76 month old drug war remains a very expensive proposition.

Mexico has 31 states and a federal district. This year those entities will collectively spend more than a billion dollars on domestic security. The 14.2 billion peso price tag includes security expenditures by county governments.

Shortly after he took office on Dec. 1, president Enrique Peña Nieto submitted to Mexico's congress a proposed domestic security budget of almost $520 million dollars for federal operations only. That budget request represented a 47% increase over the final one in the administration of former president Felipe Calderón. Mexico's new PRI government seeks huge increase in domestic security budget.

Altogether federal and state domestic security will cost Mexico more than $1.5 billion in 2013. The figure represents resources applied to ordinary policing, with many of the funds devoted to operations against organized crime and drug cartels. It does not represent the entire national defense budget.

In addition, since 2008 Mexico has received well over a billion dollars in contributions from the United States under the Mérida Initiative, a 2007 agreement which provides for U.S. training and equipping of Mexican military and police forces, and joint intelligence gathering operations.

Under this year's domestic security revenue sharing, Jalisco state will get 343 million pesos, or about $28 million dollars. Jalisco has become a new organized crime and drug war hot zone.

States and local entities may use the funds for any law enforcement related purpose, including the training of officers, the operation of penitentiaries and jails, juvenile offender programs and "confidence evaluations" of local police. The latter was a major focus of the Calderón administration, and remains so with Peña Nieto's. The time consuming background checks continue to run far behind schedule.

Late last year a Mexican trade group reported that domestic security woes cost the retail, service and tourist sectors almost $5 billion dollars in 2012. Mexico pays enormous price for domestic insecurity.

Apr. 9 - Mexico's Secretary of Government, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, is the single most powerful appointee in the government of president Enrique Peña Nieto. While in Guadalajara today he said that the administration is well aware of what is happening in Jalisco, and has a plan to deal with the rising violence in the city and throughout the state. Osorio Chong said that Jalisco would not be left to its own devices, and promised more federal funds and resources. But he gave no clue as to the plan.

Apr. 2 - Mexico's March drug war tally was 1,025 dead, with Jalisco state in fourth place nationwide
Feb. 20 - World Bank: Mexico has 14th largest global economy, but its citizens rank 81st in food purchasing power

May 8, 2014 - Mexico says insecurity costs it $16.6 billion USD annually, and 50 lives a day

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