Mexico and the Cartels

Introduction
With a total population of over 130 million people and being one of the major economies across the world, Mexico seems to be a nation that is all set to develop into a global superpower (Statista, 2018). Nonetheless, the country is unable to control proliferating corruption and violence emanating from drug trafficking. According to Kim (2014), Mexico is ranked 97th out of 178 in regard to the Failed State Index owing to its properly broadcasted problems with drug cartels. In addition, based on the corruption perceptions index, Mexico is ranked position 138 out of 180 with only a score of 28 percent (Transparency International, 2019). On an everyday basis, Mexican cartels partake in money laundering of millions of dollars. Mexican cartels have significantly and adversely impacted Mexico as a whole.
Mexican Cartel Operations
Mexican cartels are the biggest suppliers of various illicit drugs including cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines to the United States. Imperatively, these Mexican cartels are directly culpable for the production of heroin and methamphetamines, whereas the production of cocaine is mostly undertaken in the South American nations of Colombia, Bolivia and Peru but then funneled through Mexico to America. In the past number of years, the Mexican cartels have also been renowned for the production and distribution of fentanyl, which is an artificial opioid that is stronger than heroin. In addition, the cartels are responsible for the production as well as smuggling of substantial amounts of marijuana into America. Nonetheless, bearing in mind that there has been a wave of legislation of Marijuana in North America, there has been an increasing endemic of opioids and this has propelled Mexican cartels to concentrate on the production of hard drugs such as heroin (Lee, Renwick, and Cara Labrador, 2019).
Major Mexican cartels and their Growth
Mexico’s drug cartels are in an incessant state of change. In the past number of decades, these cartels have grown, disintegrated, formed affiliations, and combated each other for territory. There are six major cartels in Mexico that pose a major threat to the nation and also neighboring states such as the United States. First, there is the Sinaloa Cartel that was formerly spearheaded by Joaquin Guzman, which is one of the oldest and most powerful cartels. Having grips and footholds along the Pacific coast of the nation, the cartel has a bigger international imprint compared to any of its Mexican competitors. In 2017, Mexican authorities deported El Chapo to the United States who has currently been found guilty of several drug-associated charges (Lee, Renwick, and Cara Labrador, 2019). Secondly, there is the Jalisco New Generated, which disintegrated from the Sinaloa Cartel at the start of the decade. It is deemed that the fast-paced growth and proliferation of its trafficking activities is categorized by the group’s inclination to participate in violent hostilities with government establishments and other cartels. There is also the Juarez Cartel and the Gulf Cartel who control the north-central and north-eastern parts of the nation. Fifth, Los Zetas is a cartel that disintegrated from the Gulf Cartel at the start of the decade. In spite of losing some sway in recent years, it is deemed as one of the most technically progressive, sophisticated, and violent cartels. Lastly, there is the Beltran-Leyva Organization, a cartel that was formed after the Beltran-Leyva brothers left the Sinaloa Cartel. In recent times, all of these brothers have been indicated or killed. However, their partisans continue to conduct operations all over Mexico (Bender, 2014).
In accordance to Lee, Renwick, and Cara Labrador (2019), there are both local and international forces that have propelled the growth of these cartels. In the Mexican nation, cartels bribe and away magistrates, police personnel, politicians and other key officials in using their massive drug revenues and profits, which is approximated to be worth tens of billions of dollars annually. The cartels prospered during the time when Mexico was administrated by a single party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party. Imperatively, drug trafficking organizations formed a system of corruption that facilitated distribution rights and freedoms, market accessibility and also protection of drug traffickers from key government officials in exchange for appealing and substantial bribes. The supremacy of the Institutional Revolutionary Party culminated in 2000 with the voting in of President Vicente Fox, spearheading the National Action Party. Owing to the institution of new politicians in positions of power, cartels augmented their level of violence against the government in an endeavor to reinstate their footing on the nation (Lee, Renwick, and Cara Labrador, 2019).
From an international standpoint, Mexican cartels started to undertake a greater role in drug trafficking towards the culmination of the 80s. This was subsequent to the United States government agencies eliminating linkages in the Caribbean that were being employed by cartels in Colombia for cocaine smuggling. As a result, Mexican cartels transformed from being carriers and intermediaries for Colombian cartels to being major wholesalers. In this spell, the American government, in spite of declaring a war on drugs and shepherding other counter narcotics endeavors overseas, made very minimal advancement in diminishing the demand for illegal drugs. For instance, statistics indicate that in the year 2010, American citizens spent over $100 billion on purchasing illicit drugs (Lee, Renwick, and Cara Labrador, 2019).
Cartels’ Significance to the Mexican Economy
Subsequent to numerous years of growth and advancement, cartels have become influential enough to be a key player not only in the local but also global markets. In accordance to Kim (2014), during the administration of President Carlos Salinas when Mexico was incorporated into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), drug money generated by the cartels had become a significant aspect of the Mexican economy. Approximately 70 percent of cocaine emanating from South America was channeled through Mexico by the start of the century. In addition, Mexico was responsible for the production of 80 percent of marijuana and 30 percent of heroine that was imported into America. These drug trafficking activities generated more than $7 billion every year for Mexico and more billions for drug traffickers (Kim, 2014). Notably, cartel influence has become a predicament for Mexico owing to the positive and negative impact it has on the nation’s economy.
From a constructive standpoint, the drug trade undertaken by the cartels has improved employment by creating thousands of jobs. Statistics indicate that Mexican cartels generate approximately $6.6 billion in gross revenue by solely exporting drugs to the United States. In spite of the fact that a great deal of these profits are set to offshore bank accounts, the illicit drug industry is responsible for the employment of approximately 500,000 people in Mexico, which make it the fourth biggest employer in all of the nation’s industries (Gutierrez-Romero and Oviedo, 2018). Bribery by the cartels also significantly impacts the nation’s economy. It is estimated that the drug cartels spend more than $1 billion in bribing the municipal police (Blackstone, 2012). Even worse, this does not take into consideration the top officials. For instance, the former top ranking anti-drug official in Mexico, Noe Ramirez was indicted for providing drug cartels with information regarding investigations and his monthly remuneration was reported to be $450,000. In addition, the head of the Sinaloa Cartel, Joaquin Guzman, famously known as El Chapo, gave out a bribery amounting to $3 million in order to escape from the Puente Grande Mexican maximum security prison (Blackstone, 2012). Bearing in mind the number of people employed together with the substantial amounts of money generated, the collapse of the drug trade facilitated by the cartels could be equivalent to the economic collapse of Mexico.
Cartels’ Significance on the Mexican Society
Drug cartels have made significant contributions to high rates of crime and violence. Aside from employing severe violence to intimidate and also chastise adversaries, cartels are also renowned for corrupting state establishments and directly committing crimes against the citizens, for instance kidnappings and extortions. In the contemporary setting, Mexico is one of the nations that are adversely impacted by drug violence. Up until 2005, there had been peaceful and civilized operations undertaken by the cartels. However, since then, when the government administration begun indicting cartels using the military, cartels have been retaliating brutally for territory giving rise to more than 63,000 drug-related killings in the period between 2006 and 2012. Numerous cities in Mexico have become victims of this violence wave, and in a number of them, the total death toll has been as high as in nations facing civil war (Gutierrez-Romero and Oviedo, 2018). This drug violence has resulted in the displacement of people from all socioeconomic backgrounds, impelling them to shift to nearby expanses that are less affected by the violence. In spite of this, there has also been a continued rise in poverty rates in these regions affected by drug violence (Gutierrez-Romero and Oviedo, 2018).
Measures taken by Mexican Government Administrations
In recent times, the different Mexican government administrations have responded to cartels fundamentally by setting out security forces, more often than not instigating more violence.
Felipe Calderon’s Administration
President Calderon made a declaration of war against the cartels as soon as he took the reins. During his six-year presidential term between 2006 and 2012, Calderon deployed thousands of military troops as an increment and, in numerous instances, supplant local police forces. With the help of the United States, the Mexican military forces were able to seize and annihilate 25 of the high ranking 37 drug kingpins in the nation. Imperatively, this serious onslaught was the major highlight of the president’s term. Nonetheless, there are some criticisms over Calderon’s execution approach as it generated a number of smaller and more violent drug gangs. Throughout Calderon’s stint, there were 120,000 reported killings, just about double as much as the ones that took place in the preceding administration (Lee, Renwick, and Cara Labrador, 2019).
Enrique Pena Nieto’s Administration
President Pena Nieto, who succeeded Calderon, proclaimed that he would lay greater emphasis on decreasing the level of violence against the citizens and also business operations rather than eradicating the cartel frontrunners. In spite of these endeavors, the president largely depended on the military, in tandem with the federal police, to deal with the cartels. In addition, President Pena Nieto formed a new state police force comprising of numerous thousand officers. In the initial years of his presidential stint, there was a decline in the number of homicides. However, in the year 2015, there was a significant rise and towards the culmination of his term in 2018, homicide levels had increased to the greatest level in the contemporary Mexican history. For the most part, this is associated with the incessant fallout of President Calderon’s approach of killing kingpins and regional hostilities between cartels (Lee, Renwick, and Cara Labrador, 2019).
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s Administration
In 2018, Mexico conducted election and voted in President Lopez Obrador. In the contemporary setting, the president is vouching for amnesty for low-level criminals and the institution of more liberal drug legislations. Nonetheless, there are criticism that President Lopez Obrador’s plans to set out a new national guard will assimilate both military and police forces, against the cartels portray some of the blunders made by his predecessors (Lee, Renwick, and Cara Labrador, 2019).
Conclusion
Mexico’s drug cartels have experienced significant growth and power over the decades. Mexican authorities have been engaging in a war against cartels that traffic drugs for over a decade now, but with hardly any sort of success. Tens of thousands of Mexicans, comprising of students, journalists, as well as key officials and political figures, continue to be die in the skirmishes every single year. In the past year, the rate of homicides in the nation hit a new high with over 28,000 killings being associated with the cartels. These cartels have been able to flourish and expand their operations by bribing judges, police officers, politicians and other office bearers using the significant profits they generate. Recent Mexican administrators have retorted to these cartels by fundamentally deploying security forces. However, their approaches have not been exceedingly efficacious. Mexico ought to work in tandem with the United States to bolster this fight not only in strengthening the security forces but also in the reformation of the judicial system and guaranteeing indictments. The recent efforts in reinforcing the American border to limit the flow of illegal drugs together with the extradition of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and his sentencing shows that Mexico can win the battle against the cartels.



References
Bender, J. (2014). Nearly Eight Years Into The Drug War, These Are Mexico's 7 Most Notorious Cartels. Business Insider. Retrieved from: https://www.businessinsider.com/mexicos-7-most-notorious-drug-cartels-2014-10?IR=T
Blackstone, S. (2012). The amount of money Mexican drug cartels spend on bribes is staggering. Business Insider. Retrieved from: https://www.businessinsider.com/mexicos-drug-war-the-incredible-costs-of-corruption-2012-6?IR=T
Gutierrez-Romero, R., Oviedo, M. (2018). The good, the bad and the ugly: the socioeconomic impact of drug cartels and their violence. Journal of Economic Geography, 18(6): 1315 – 1338.
Kim, J. J. (2014). Mexican Drug Cartel Influence in Government, Society, and Culture (Doctoral dissertation, UCLA). Retrieved from: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6tg3z64q
Lee, B., Renwick, D., Cara Labrador, R. (2019). Mexico’s Drug War. Council on Foreign Relations.
Statista. (2018). Mexico: Total Population. Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/263748/total-population-of-mexico/
Transparency International. (2019). Mexico. Retrieved from: https://www.transparency.org/country/MEX