Mexico's Drug Related Violence

Carcharodon · 03-09-2010 2:33pm #1

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10681249

Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched his crackdown on the drug cartels in December 2006.

Since then, many thousands of people have been killed.

What is the scale of the violence?

National Intelligence chief Guillermo Valdes said on 2 August that more than 28,000 people had died in drug-related violence since 2006.

The figure was a big jump on the previous estimates of almost 25,000 released by the attorney general's office in July.

Government officials have repeatedly said that the figures need to be seen in context; they suggest that the vast majority of the killings involve people connected with the drugs trade or law enforcement officers.

Where are the worst-hit areas?

Mexico's northern border towns are experiencing the worst of the violence. Ciudad Juarez (just across from El Paso in Texas) is the city suffering the most. There are also high levels of violence in Michoacan and Guerrero states. However, Mexico is a large country, and there are still many areas where the serious crime rate is unexceptional. The overall murder rate is lower than several other countries in the region, including El Salvador and Honduras: 11.6 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, against 51.8 and 60.9 respectively.

Does the discovery of mass graves suggest the violence is increasing?

Mass graves have been turning up increasingly frequently - some containing dozens of bodies. Beheadings and bodies hung from bridges point to a rise in gruesome attacks. The Mexican government argues that the violence shows that the gangs are turning on one another - reflecting the success of government policies. However, some observers argue that the cartels have become so powerful that, in effect, they control some parts of the country - the violence is evidence of their gang law.

President Felipe Calderon has deployed troops. Is this strategy working?

More than 50,000 troops and federal police are actively involved in Mexico's so-called war on drugs. The Mexican government says record amounts of drugs have been seized, and senior cartel leaders jailed or killed in operations. But another consequence has been an explosion of violence, as the drug cartels fight both the army and each other. There are also concerns about the military's lack of accountability.

How serious is corruption within the police?

Very. One reason why the government has deployed the army so extensively is that it feels the police cannot be trusted. Drug cartels with massive resources at their disposal have repeatedly managed to infiltrate the underpaid police, from the grassroots level to the very top. Efforts are under way to rebuild the entire structure of the Mexican police force, but the process is expected to take years.

How much support is there for the government's policy?

Most Mexicans support the strong line but the increasing violence has prompted calls for a rethink. Mr Calderon, while stressing he is against legalising drugs, has said he would be open to a debate on the issue.

Who are Mexico's powerful cartels?

The cartels control the trafficking of drugs from South America to the US, a business that is worth an estimated $13bn (£9bn) a year. Their power grew as the US stepped up anti-narcotics operations in the Caribbean and Florida. A US state department report estimated that as much as 90% of all cocaine consumed in the US comes via Mexico.

There are roughly seven main gangs. Alliances between them have been seen to shift as they vie for control of trafficking routes.

To what extent is violence spilling over the US-Mexico border?

Most of the violence remains firmly on the Mexican side of the border, but there is some evidence of increasingly violent attacks on US border patrol agents by drug traffickers. There has also been a reported rise in drug-related shootings and kidnappings in some US cities and towns, especially in the south-west.

A US Congress report in 2008 drew on evidence from intelligence sources suggesting that Mexican cartels had forged closer links with established drug gangs inside the US.

A May 2010 report from the US National Drug Intelligence Center said that Mexican drug trafficking organisations "continue to represent the single greatest drug trafficking threat to the United States".

What has been the US response to the drug trafficking and violence?

In March 2009, the US government announced that it would step up efforts to disrupt the illegal flow of weapons and drug profits from the US to Mexico - a key demand of the Mexican government.

The US has joined Mexico, Central American nations, Haiti and the Dominican Republic form part of the Merida Initiative - a $400m scheme to assist Mexico's efforts to take on the drugs trade, by helping to provide equipment and training to support law enforcement operations.

I have been really surprised over the past couple of years at this level of violence and to me what seems to be not enough interest from the US. It just baffles me sometimes that we have this real serious problem here and yet we seem to spend more time paying attention to politicians playing their usual games in Washington.

This is obviously a Mexican issue but the US has a real obligation to help due to the close relationship it has with Mexico and the demand for the drugs stems from the US itself for the most part.

Denerick · 03-09-2010 3:45pm

Two words: media spin.

Mexico is by no means a haven of tranquility, but South Africa and Venezuala among others would kill to have such a low homicide rate (bad pun intended)

Some Mexicans, principally the ex president Vicente Fox, are beginning to come round to the idea that legalisation is the ultimate solution. Every time the Mexican soldiers kill off one syndicate, another one emerges to fill the vacuum, thus destroying the delicate relative peace of organised crimes monopoly. Remove drugs as a profitable venture and these criminals will move into racketeering, money laundering and kidnapping, but those crimes are easier dealt with. Fact is that without drugs they wouldn't be nearly as powerful or wealthy. They wouldn't be able to employ the same numbers of kids and thus preventing an entire army of youngsters getting caught up in a life of violence. Only when drugs are available in your nearest chemist will the organised gangsters truly be defeated.

Eliot Rosewater · 03-09-2010 4:38pm

Denerick wrote: »

Every time the Mexican soldiers kill off one syndicate, another one emerges to fill the vacuum, thus destroying the delicate relative peace of organised crimes monopoly.

Indeed. Even in Ireland, stories like "Gardaí break up heroin ring" are not worthy of reporting. Elementary economics teaches us that a new ring will form pretty soon, or some other ring will quickly snatch up the market share left unserved. If people want a service, they will get it.

Unfortunately, passionate anti-drugs activists refuse to admit that there will always be a drug demand and hence a drug supply. If these activists took their heads out of the clouds many lives could be saved.

Permabear · 03-09-2010 4:55pm

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Valmont · 03-09-2010 5:17pm

donegalfella wrote: »

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And for those worried about the greater health effects of legalising drugs, the enormous revenues that would no doubt be received through taxation could contribute to education programs for young people. Not the sort of "Drugs are evil" and "one pill will make you bleed out of your eyeballs" type of education that we have now but something objective and scientific that young people can respond to. I remember the blatant lies and propaganda fed to me and my classmates when we were younger just insulted our intelligence and if anything, pushed some students in the opposite direction.

I wonder about the moral hazard of legalising drugs alonside our socialised medical system. It would seem that any worthless waster of a junkie would be able to get messed up all he wants and still won't have to foot the bill as long as he has his medical card.

Permabear · 03-09-2010 5:41pm

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jonsnow · 03-09-2010 8:12pm

Ever since watching the wires first season whenever I see the Gardai do their "dope on the table" thing I just laugh at the futility of it.

Carcharodon · 04-09-2010 1:18am

Denerick wrote: »

Two words: media spin.

Mexico is by no means a haven of tranquility, but South Africa and Venezuala among others would kill to have such a low homicide rate (bad pun intended)

Well this may very well be true but I think the same analogy could be applied between any country with any stat, Its not really the point when discussing things like this.

Denerick wrote: »

Some Mexicans, principally the ex president Vicente Fox, are beginning to come round to the idea that legalisation is the ultimate solution. Every time the Mexican soldiers kill off one syndicate, another one emerges to fill the vacuum, thus destroying the delicate relative peace of organised crimes monopoly. Remove drugs as a profitable venture and these criminals will move into racketeering, money laundering and kidnapping, but those crimes are easier dealt with. Fact is that without drugs they wouldn't be nearly as powerful or wealthy. They wouldn't be able to employ the same numbers of kids and thus preventing an entire army of youngsters getting caught up in a life of violence. Only when drugs are available in your nearest chemist will the organised gangsters truly be defeated.

I whole heartily agree that legalisation is the ultimate solution but I don't think that will happen for a very very long time, it will be a long hard slog to help people understand this, people have been somewhat brainwashed with their views on anything drug related.

It just makes me wonder about the the whole messed up political agendas, we have all this violence on the doorstep and over it too but it just seems to ignored for the large part.

Sure didn't the politicians spend a crazy amount of time on the ever so important baseball steroid hearings not so long ago, oh the importance of that :rolleyes:

demonspawn · 04-09-2010 2:16am

Valmont wrote: »

I wonder about the moral hazard of legalising drugs alonside our socialised medical system. It would seem that any worthless waster of a junkie would be able to get messed up all he wants and still won't have to foot the bill as long as he has his medical card.

A bit like the hundreds of people admitted into A&E every weekend suffering from acute alcohol poisoning? Or the thousands getting treatment for liver damage from drinking or lung cancer caused by smoking? What about the hundreds/thousands of man hours wasted by the Gardai investigating drunk driving accidents and deaths? Or the violent attacks/murders caused by alcohol?

See where this is going?

Valmont · 05-09-2010 12:08pm

This is Ireland though, suggesting people bear responsibility for their actions is a faux pas.

rightwingdub · 05-09-2010 10:47pm

The war on drugs is long since lost, will the Mexican government hold a national celebration when the death toll reaches 30,000:rolleyes:

I actually couldn't care less anymore.

Carcharodon · 11-09-2010 4:24am

There authorities really seem to be fighting a losing battle when things like this are a becoming the norm. These people are giving drugs a bad rep :mad:

25 Killed In Mexican City's Deadliest Day In 3 Years

OLIVIA TORRES | 09/10/10 09:58 PM | AP

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Gunmen killed 25 people in a series of drug-gang attacks in Ciudad Juarez, marking the deadliest day in more than two years for the Mexican border city. Farther east on the border, 85 inmates scaled the walls of a prison and escaped Friday in Mexico's biggest jail break in recent memory.

Despite the violence, President Felipe Calderon hotly disputed a statement this week by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying Mexico resembled Colombia two decades ago.

"These kind of comments like the ones made by Secretary of State Clinton ... so careless, so lacking in seriousness, are very painful for Mexico, because they damage Mexico's image terribly," Calderon told the Spanish-language network Univision.

"I think the main thing we have in common with Colombia is that both of our countries suffer from U.S. drug consumption," Calderon said. "We are both victims of the enormous American consumption of drugs, and now the sales of weapons."

The toll in Thursday's attacks in Ciudad Juarez included 15 people killed when attackers stormed four homes in three hours, said Arturo Sandoval, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office of Chihuahua state, where Ciudad Juarez is located.

In the worst of those attacks, gunmen burst into a house and killed two young men – then killed four others for being witnesses.

Sandoval said it was the highest single-day murder toll in the city across from El Paso, Texas, since March 2008. He did not give more details of how many died back then, or say what day.

Two graffiti message appeared in Ciudad Juarez threatening Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the fugitive head of the Sinaloa drug cartel.

"You are killing our sons. You already did, and now we are going to kill your families," one sign read.
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In the border city of Reynosa, across the border from McAllen, Texas, 85 inmates – 66 of whom were convicted or on trial for federal charges like weapons possession or drugs – scaled the Reynosa prison's 20-foot (6-meter) walls using ladders, said the Tamaulipas state public safety secretary, Jose Garza Garcia.

Garza Garcia said 44 prison guards and employees were under investigation. Two were missing.

"The guards evidently helped in the escape," he said. So far this year a total of 201 inmates have escaped from prisons in Tamaulipas.

Friday's escape was the largest single mass prison breakout in recent years. In 2009, armed assailants believed to be working for the Zetas drug gang broke 53 inmates out of a prison in the northern state of Zacatecas while guards stood by and did nothing to stop them.

Ciudad Juarez, with a population of 1.3 million, has become one of the world's most dangerous cities amid a turf war between the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels.

Violence has continued unabated despite the deployment of thousands of soldiers to the city this year. Federal police, including a special investigative unit, later took over security in the city as part of a new strategy announced by President Felipe Calderon.

More than 2,100 people have been killed this year in Ciudad Juarez, putting the city on pace to surpass its previous high of 2,700, set last year.

Daily homicide tolls routinely reach double digits in Juarez; 24 people were killed Aug. 15.

Also Friday, Sandoval confirmed that a U.S. resident kidnapped in Ciudad Juarez last month was found dead.

Saul de la Rosa, 27, was abducted along with two other people when he crossed into Ciudad Juarez on Aug. 28. All three bodies were found Sept. 2, and Sandoval said documents found on De la Rosa indicated he was a U.S. resident.

Elsewhere in Mexico, at least five people were killed in the southern Pacific coast state of Guerrero, where various cartels are also fighting for territory, state police reported. One body was found floating in the ocean in a beach town just north of the resort city of Acapulco, his hands and feet bound.

In central Morelos state, a prison riot left one inmate dead and eight wounded. Guerrero and Morelos state have both been battlegrounds for control the Beltran Leyva cartel since its leader, Arturo Beltran Leyva, was killed in a December shootout with Marines.

One of the alleged kingpins fighting for control of Morelos, U.S.-born Edgar "La Barbie" Valdez Villarreal, was captured Aug. 30 by federal police, but different accounts of how he was caught have since emerged.

The Mexican government has said the arrest was the result of a 1 1/2-year investigation and a carefully planned raid involving agents specially trained abroad.

But a copy of the booking report obtained by The Associated Press and other media outlets Thursday indicates the officers who arrested him did not initially know who they had caught. The officers' report says they detained Valdez after chasing him in a suspicious three-vehicle convoy for several miles.

On Friday, Valdez's U.S. lawyer, Kent Schaffer, told The Associated Press that Mexican authorities lured Valdez to a business 10 miles from his ranch by having a detained associate call and ask to meet him. He said Valdez drove to the place, got out of the car and found himself surrounded.

Schaffer said Valdez told him the associate was forced to make the call at gunpoint.

"He wasn't pulled over for traffic. He wasn't chased at all," Schaffer said. "From what I understand, an associate of Mr. Valdez was ordered at gunpoint to send him a message telling him to come meet."

A federal police spokesman, who was not authorized by department rules to be quoted by name, said an associate of Valdez's apparently did call Valdez just before he was caught, but said that happened while police were tailing the associate's car in Mexico City.

When the associate noticed the police, he opened fire and was killed in the ensuing gunbattle near a major shopping center, the spokesman said.

Also Friday, Mexico's attorney general said video tapes distributed by authorities showing Valdez giving a rambling account of his drug dealings are considered "interviews," and could not be formally submitted as evidence because his lawyer was not present. Attorney General Arturo Chavez said that in formal statements with his lawyer present, Valdez did not admit to the activities he acknowledged on the tapes.

Schaffer also said he filed an official request with the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City asking that the U.S. government request Valdez be deported to face trial in the United States, where he faces charges in three states for allegedly trucking in tons of cocaine.

A Mexican judge last week ordered Valdez held for 40 days while prosecutors here decide whether to formally file organized crime and other charges. Mexican authorities have said deportation is a possibility but have made no decision.

Mexico's Drug Related Violence

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