Mexican drug war: Difference between revisions

Mexican Drug War
Date	December 11, 2006 (when Operation Michoacan commenced) – present; (17 years, 163 days)
Location	Mexican states of Baja California, Durango, Sinaloa, Guerrero, Chihuahua, Michoacán, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Veracruz, Coahuila, Jalisco, San Luis Potosí, Nayarit, Zacatecas, Oaxaca, Morelos, and Sonora.
Status	Conflict ongoing
Belligerents
Mexico Mexican Army Mexican Air Force; ; Mexican Navy Mexican Naval Infantry; ; ; Federal Police; Mexican state and municipal police forces;	Rival drug cartels: Sinaloa Cartel; Gulf Cartel; Juárez Cartel; Knights Templar Cartel; Tijuana Cartel; La Familia Cartel (disbanded); Los Zetas Cartel; Beltrán-Leyva Cartel (disbanded);
Commanders and leaders
Felipe Calderón; Mariano Francisco Saynez Mendoza; Guillermo Galván Galván; Sergio Aponte Polito	Joaquín Guzmán Loera,; Ismael Zambada García,; Ignacio Coronel Villarreal †,; Antonio Cárdenas Guillén †,; Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez,; Vicente Carrillo Fuentes,; Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano,; Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano,; Arturo Beltrán Leyva †,; Héctor Beltrán Leyva,; Nazario Moreno González †;
Strength
50,000 soldiers; 35,000 Federal Police	100,000 foot soldiers
Casualties and losses
1,000+ Police and prosecutors killed; 138 Army soldiers killed; 14 Marines killed; 318 Federal Police killed; 58 reporters killed; ~1,000 children killed	121,199 cartel members detained; 8,500 convicted
	62 killed in 2006 ; 2,837 killed in 2007; 6,844 killed in 2008; 9,635 killed in 2009; 15,273 killed in 2010 ; 16,466 killed in 2011; Total estimate of deaths: 47,554
	Highest estimate of deaths: 60,420 Total disappeared: 10,000; Total displaced: 1.6 million

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The Mexican Drug War is an ongoing armed conflict taking place among rival drug cartels fighting each other for regional control, and Mexican government forces seeking to combat drug trafficking. However, the government's principal goal has been to put down the drug-related violence that was raging between different rival drug cartels in Mexico before any military intervention was made.^[27] In addition, the Mexican government has claimed that their primary focus is on dismantling the powerful drug cartels, rather than on drug trafficking prevention, which is left to U.S. functionaries.^[28]^[29]^[30]

Although Mexican drug cartels, or drug trafficking organizations, have existed for several decades, they have become more powerful since the demise of Colombia's Cali and Medellín cartels in the 1990s. Mexican drug cartels now dominate the wholesale illicit drug market in the United States.^[31] Arrests of key cartel leaders, particularly in the Tijuana and Gulf cartels, have led to increasing drug violence as cartels fight for control of the trafficking routes into the United States.^[32]^[33]^[34]

Analysts estimate that wholesale earnings from illicit drug sales range from $13.6 billion^[31] to $49.4 billion annually.^[31]^[35]^[36]

History

Given its geographic location, Mexico has long been used as a staging and transshipment point for narcotics, illegal immigrants and contraband destined for U.S. markets from Mexico, South America and elsewhere. During the 1980s and early 1990s, Colombia’s Pablo Escobar was the main exporter of cocaine and dealt with organized criminal networks all over the world. When enforcement efforts intensified in South Florida and the Caribbean, the Colombian organizations formed partnerships with the Mexico-based traffickers to transport cocaine through Mexico into the United States.^[37]

This was easily accomplished because Mexico had long been a major source of heroin and cannabis, and drug traffickers from Mexico had already established an infrastructure that stood ready to serve the Colombia-based traffickers. By the mid-1980s, the organizations from Mexico were well established and reliable transporters of Colombian cocaine. At first, the Mexican gangs were paid in cash for their transportation services, but in the late 1980s, the Mexican transport organizations and the Colombian drug traffickers settled on a payment-in-product arrangement. Transporters from Mexico usually were given 35% to 50% of each cocaine shipment. This arrangement meant that organizations from Mexico became involved in the distribution, as well as the transportation of cocaine, and became formidable traffickers in their own right. Currently, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Gulf cartel have taken over trafficking cocaine from Colombia to the worldwide markets.^[38]

Over time, the balance of power between the various Mexican cartels shifts as new ones emerge and older ones weaken and collapse. A disruption in the system, such as the arrests or deaths of cartel leaders, generates bloodshed as rivals move in to exploit the power vacuum.^[39] Leadership vacuums are sometimes created by law enforcement successes against a particular cartel, thus cartels often will attempt to use law enforcement against one another, either by bribing Mexican officials to take action against a rival or by leaking intelligence about a rival's operations to the Mexican government or the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.^[39] While many factors have contributed to the escalating violence, security analysts in Mexico City trace the origins of the rising scourge to the unraveling of a longtime implicit arrangement between narcotics traffickers and governments controlled by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which lost its grip on political power starting in the late 1980s.^[40]

The fighting between rival drug cartels began in earnest after the 1989 arrest of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo who ran the cocaine business in Mexico.^[41] There was a lull in the fighting during the late 1990s but the violence has steadily worsened since 2000.

Presidency of Vicente Fox

Violence increased from 2000 when President Vicente Fox sent troops to Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas to fight the cartels. It is estimated that about 110 people died in Nuevo Laredo alone during the January–August 2005 period as a result of the fighting between the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels.^[42] In 2005 there was a surge in violence as La Familia Michoacana drug cartel established itself in Michoacán.

Presidency of Felipe Calderón

Although violence between drug cartels had been occurring long before the war began, the government held a generally passive stance regarding cartel violence in the 1990s and early 2000s. That changed on December 11, 2006, when newly elected President Felipe Calderón sent 6,500 federal troops to the state of Michoacán to end drug violence there (Operation Michoacan). This action is regarded as the first major operation against organized crime, and is generally viewed as the starting point of the war between the government and the drug cartels.^[1] As time progressed, Calderón continued to escalate his anti-drug campaign, in which there are now about 45,000 troops involved in addition to state and federal police forces. In 2010 Calderón said that the cartels seek "to replace the government" and "are trying to impose a monopoly by force of arms, and are even trying to impose their own laws."^[43]

Escalation

In April 2008, General Sergio Aponte, the man in charge of the anti-drug campaign in the state of Baja California, made a number of allegations of corruption against the police forces in the region. Among his allegations, Aponte stated that he believed Baja California's anti-kidnapping squad was actually a kidnapping team working in conjunction with organized crime, and that bribed police units were being used as bodyguards for drug traffickers.^[3] These accusations sent shock waves through state government. Many of the more than 50 accused officials quit or fled, in shame or guilt. The progress against drug cartels in Mexico has been hindered by bribery, intimidation, and corruption; four months later the General was relieved of his command. ^[44]

On April 26, 2008, a major battle took place between members of the Tijuana and Sinaloa cartels in the city of Tijuana, Baja California, that left 17 people dead.^[45]

In March 2009, President Calderón called in an additional 5,000 Mexican Army troops to Ciudad Juárez. The United States Department of Homeland Security has also said that it is considering using the National Guard to counter the threat of drug violence in Mexico from spilling over the border into the US. The governors of Arizona and Texas have asked the federal government to send additional National Guard troops to help those already there supporting local law enforcement efforts against drug trafficking.^[46]

According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, Mexican cartels are the predominant smugglers and wholesale distributors of South American cocaine and Mexico-produced cannabis, methamphetamine and heroin. Mexico's cartels have existed for some time, but have become increasingly powerful in recent years with the demise of the Medellín and Cali cartels in Colombia. The Mexican cartels are expanding their control over the distribution of these drugs in areas controlled by Colombian and Dominican criminal groups, and it is now believed they control most of the illegal drugs coming in the U.S.A.^[47]

No longer constrained to being mere intermediaries for Colombian producers, Mexican cartels are now powerful organized-crime syndicates that dominate the drug trade in the Americas.

Mexican cartels control large swaths of Mexican territory and dozens of municipalities, and they exercise increasing influence in Mexican electoral politics.^[48] The cartels are waging violent turf battles over control of key smuggling corridors from Matamoros to San Diego. Mexican cartels employ hitmen and groups of enforcers, known as sicarios. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports that the Mexican drug cartels operating today along the border are far more sophisticated and dangerous than any other organized criminal group in U.S. law enforcement history.^[47] The cartels use grenade launchers, automatic weapons, body armor, and sometimes Kevlar helmets.^[49]^[50]^[51] Some groups have also been known to use improvised explosive devices (IEDs).^[52]

Casualty numbers have escalated significantly over time. According to a Stratfor report, the number of drug-related deaths in 2006 and 2007 (2,119 and 2,275) more than doubled to 5,207 in 2008. The number further increased substantially over the next two years, from 6,598 in 2009 to over 11,000 in 2010.^[52]

Drug sources and use

Use

With the increased role of Mexico in the trafficking and production of illicit drugs, the availability of drugs has increased locally since the 1980s.^[53] In the decades before this period, consumption was not generalized – reportedly occurring mainly among persons of high socioeconomic status, intellectuals and artists.^[53]

Often drug shipments are delayed in Mexican border towns before delivery to the U.S., which has likely contributed to the high rates of local drug consumption.^[53] Following the terrorist events of September 11, 2001, coupled with stricter border control measures, less cocaine is exported to the U.S.^[53] This has led to an over-supply of cocaine which has resulted in decreased prices as dealers attempt to unload extra drug along trafficking routes, especially in Mexican border areas. With increased cocaine use, there has been a parallel rise in demand for drug user treatment in Mexico.^[53] The prevalence of illicit drug use in Mexico is still comparatively low as compared to Canada and U.S.A.^[53]

Sources

Mexico, a major drug producing and transit country, is the main foreign supplier of cannabis and a major supplier of methamphetamine to the United States.^[31] Almost half the cartels revenue come from cannabis.^[54] Although Mexico accounts for only a small share of worldwide heroin production, it supplies a large share of the heroin distributed in the United States.^[31]^[55] Drug cartels in Mexico control approximately 70% of the foreign narcotics that flow into the United States.^[56] The US State Department estimates that 90% of cocaine entering the United States transits through Mexico, with Colombia being the main cocaine producer,^[57] followed by Bolivia and Peru.^[58] Reports indicate that Venezuela has clearly become a major transshipment point for illegal drugs leaving Colombia.^[59]^[60]^[61]^[62]^[63] Mexican drug traffickers increasingly smuggle money back into Mexico inside cars and trucks, likely due to the effectiveness of U.S. efforts at monitoring electronic money transfers.^[64]

Mexican cartels

Origin

File:Miguelangelfelixgallardo.png

Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, the 'godfather' of Mexican drug cartels.

The birth of all Mexican drug cartels is traced to former Mexican Judicial Federal Police agent Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo ('The Godfather'), who founded the Guadalajara Cartel in 1980 and controlled all illegal drug trade in Mexico and the trafficking corridors across the Mexico-USA border throughout the 1980s.^[65] He started off by smuggling marijuana and opium into the U.S.A., and was the first Mexican drug chief to link up with Colombia's cocaine cartels in the 1980s. Through his connections, Félix Gallardo became the point man for the Medellin cartel, which was run by Pablo Escobar.^[66] This was easily accomplished because Félix Gallardo had already established an infrastructure that stood ready to serve the Colombia-based traffickers.

There were no cartels at that time in Mexico. Félix Gallardo was the lord of Mexican drug lords. He oversaw all operations; there was just him, his cronies, and the politicians who sold him protection.^[67] However, the Guadalajara Cartel suffered a major blow in 1985 when the group's co-founder Rafael Caro Quintero was captured, and later convicted, for the murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena.^[68]^[69] Félix Gallardo afterwards kept a low profile and in 1987 he moved with his family to Guadalajara city. According to Peter Dale Scott, the Guadalajara Cartel prospered largely because it enjoyed the protection of the DFS, under its chief Miguel Nazar Haro, a CIA asset.^[70]

"The Godfather" then decided to divide up the trade he controlled as it would be more efficient and less likely to be brought down in one law enforcement swoop.^[71] In a way, he was privatizing the Mexican drug business while sending it back underground, to be run by bosses who were less well known or not yet known by the DEA. Félix Gallardo "The Godfather" convened the nation's top drug traffickers at a house in the resort of Acapulco where he designated the plazas or territories.^[71] The Tijuana route would go to the Arellano Felix brothers. The Ciudad Juárez route would go to the Carrillo Fuentes family. Miguel Caro Quintero would run the Sonora corridor. The control of the Matamoros, Tamaulipas corridor—then becoming the Gulf Cartel—would be left undisturbed to its founder Juan García Abrego. Meanwhile, Joaquín Guzmán Loera and Ismael Zambada García would take over Pacific coast operations, becoming the Sinaloa Cartel. Guzmán and Zambada brought veteran Héctor Luis Palma Salazar back into the fold. Félix Gallardo still planned to oversee national operations, as he maintained important connections, but he would no longer control all details of the business.^[71]

Félix Gallardo was arrested on 8 April 1989.^[72]

Current cartels

Alliances or agreements between drug cartels have been shown to be fragile, tense and temporary. Since February 2010, the major cartels have aligned in two factions, one integrated by the Juárez Cartel, Tijuana Cartel, Los Zetas Cartel and the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel; the other faction integrated by the Gulf Cartel, Sinaloa Cartel and La Familia Cartel.^[75]

Mexican drug cartels have increased their co-operation with U.S. street and prison gangs to expand their distribution networks within the U.S.^[36]

Beltrán Leyva Cartel

The Beltrán-Leyva Cartel was a Mexican drug cartel and organized crime syndicate founded by the four Beltrán Leyva brothers: Marcos Arturo, Carlos, Alfredo and Héctor.^[76]^[77]^[78]^[79] In 2004 and 2005, Arturo Beltrán Leyva led powerful groups of assassins to fight for trade routes in northeastern Mexico for the Sinaloa Cartel. Through the use of corruption or intimidation, the Beltrán Leyva Cartel was able to infiltrate Mexico's political,^[80] judicial^[81] and police institutions to feed classified information about anti-drug operations,^[82]^[83] and even infiltrated the Interpol office in Mexico.^[84]

The Mexican Federal Police considers the cartel has been disbanded,^[85]^[86] and the last cartel leader, Héctor Beltrán Leyva, apparently has been inactive and remains a fugitive; the U.S.A. is offering a reward of USD $5 million for information leading to his arrest,^[87] while the Mexican government is offering a USD $2.1 million reward.^[88]^[89]

La Familia Cartel

La Familia Michoacana is based in Michoacán. It was formerly allied to the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas Cartel, but split off and become an independent organization.^[90] In February 2010, La Familia forged an alliance with the Gulf Cartel against Los Zetas Cartel and Beltrán Leyva Cartel.^[91]

File:Juan Jose Esparragoza-Moreno.jpg

Juan José Esparragoza Moreno is a Sinaloa Cartel drug lord. He is a former Mexican Federal Judicial Police (PJF) officer.^[92]

The Attorney General in Mexico (PGR) stated that La Familia Cartel was "exterminated" by mid-2011,^[93] but in the process, a splinter group, the Knights Templar Cartel was formed.^[94]^[95]

Gulf Cartel

The Gulf Cartel, based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, has been one of Mexico's two dominant cartels in recent years. In the late 1990s, it hired a private mercenary army (an enforcer group now called the Los Zetas Cartel), which in 2006 stepped up as a partner but, in February 2010, their partnership was dissolved and both groups engaged in widespread violence across several border cities of Tamaulipas state,^[91]^[96] turning several border towns into "ghost towns".^[97]

The Gulf cartel (CDG) was strong at the beginning of 2011, holding off several Zetas incursions into its territory. However, as the year progressed, internal divisions led to intra-cartel battles in Matamoros and Reynosa, Tamaulipas state. The infighting resulted in several deaths and arrests in Mexico and in the United States. The CDG has since broken apart, and it appears that one faction, known as Los Metros, has overpowered its rival Los Rojos faction and is now asserting its control over CDG operations. The infighting has weakened the CDG, but the group seems to have maintained control of its primary plazas, or smuggling corridors, into the United States.^[98]

Juárez Cartel

The Juárez Cartel controls one of the primary transportation routes for billions of dollars worth of illegal drug shipments annually entering the United States from Mexico.^[99] Since 2007, the Juárez Cartel has been locked in a vicious battle with its former partner, the Sinaloa Cartel, for control of Ciudad Juárez. La Línea is a group of Mexican drug traffickers and corrupt Juárez and Chihuahua state police officers who work as the armed wing of the Juárez Cartel.^[100] Vicente Carrillo Fuentes heads the Juárez Cartel.

In 2011, the Juárez Cartel continues to weaken,^[101]^[102] however, still controls the three main points of entry into El Paso, Texas. The Juárez Cartel is only a shadow of the organization it was a decade ago, and its weakness and inability to effectively fight against Sinaloa's advances in Juarez contributed to the lower death toll in Juarez in 2011.^[103]

Knights Templar

The Knights Templar drug cartel (Spanish: Caballeros Templarios) was created in Michoacán in March 2011 after the death of the charismatic leader of La Familia Michoacana cartel, Nazario Moreno González.^[104] The Cartel is headed by Enrique Plancarte Solís and Servando Gómez Martínez who formed the Knights Templar due to differences with José de Jesús Méndez Vargas, who had assumed leadership of La Familia Michoacana.^[105]

After the emergence of the Knight Templars, sizable battles flared up during the spring and summer months between the Knights Templar and La Familia. The organization has grown from a splinter group to a dominant force over La Familia, and it appears to be taking over the bulk of their original operations in Mexico. At present, the Knights Templar appear to have aligned with the Sinaloa Federation in an effort to root out the remnants of La Familia and to prevent Los Zetas from gaining a more substantial foothold in the region.^[106]^[107]

Sinaloa Cartel

The Sinaloa Cartel began to contest the Gulf Cartel’s domination of the coveted southwest Texas corridor following the arrest of Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cárdenas in March 2003. The "Federation" was the result of a 2006 accord between several groups located in the Pacific state of Sinaloa. The cartel is led by Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, Mexico's most-wanted drug trafficker and whose estimated net worth of US$1 billion makes him the 1140th richest man in the world and the 55th most powerful according to his Forbes Magazine profile.^[108] In February 2010, new alliances were formed against Los Zetas Cartel and Beltran Leyva Cartel.^[91] As of May 2010, numerous reports by Mexican and US media claimed that Sinaloa had infiltrated the Mexican federal government and military, and colluded with it to destroy the other cartels.^[109]^[110] The Colima Cartel, Sonora Cartel and Milenio Cartel are now branches of the Sinaloa Cartel.^[111]

Tijuana Cartel

File:Arellano-Felix Cartel 2009.jpg

'Wanted' poster for the Tijuana Cartel leaders (2009)

The Tijuana Cartel, also known as the Arellano Felix Organization, was once among Mexico's most powerful.^[112] It is based in Tijuana, one of the most strategically important border towns in Mexico,^[113] and continues to export drugs even after being weakened by an internal war in 2009. Due to infighting, arrests and the deaths of some of its top members, the Tijuana Cartel is a fraction of what it was in the 1990s and early 2000s, when it was considered one of the most potent and violent criminal organizations in Mexico by the police. After the arrest or assassination of various members of the Arellano Felix clan, the cartel is currently headed by Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano, a nephew of the Arellano Felix brothers.

Los Zetas Cartel

In 1999, Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cardenas Guillen, hired a group of 31 corrupt former elite military soldiers now known as Los Zetas, who deserted from the Airmobile Special Forces Group (GAFE) and the Amphibian Group of Special Forces (GANFE) of the Mexican Army, and began operating as a private army for the Gulf Cartel. The Zetas have been instrumental in the Gulf Cartel's domination of the drug trade in much of Mexico and have fought to maintain the cartel's influence in northern cities following the arrest of Osiel Cardenas.

After the arrest and extradition of Gulf Cartel leader, Osiel Cardenas Guillen, the Zetas seized the opportunity to strike out on their own. Under the leadership of Heriberto Lazcano, the Zetas, numbering approximately 300, set up its own independent drug, arms and human-trafficking networks.^[114] In 2010, Los Zetas made a deal with ex-Sinaloa cartel commanders, the Beltrán-Leyva brothers and since then, became rivals of their former employer/partner, the Gulf Cartel.^[91]

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Smuggling of firearms

AK-47 style rifle (locally called *Cuerno de chivo*, Spanish for *Goat Horn*, for its curved magazine)

Mexicans have a constitutional right to own firearms, ^[116] but legal purchase from the single Mexican gun shop in Mexico City is extremely difficult.^[117] A significant number of firearms that make their way to Mexico come from U.S. gunshops. These are then smuggled into Mexico across the US-Mexico border. ^[118]^[119] Some firearms are smuggled through Guatemalan borders ^[120] or stolen from the Mexican police or military. ^[121] Consequently, black market firearms are widely available. The most common smuggled firearms include AR-15 and AK-47 type rifles, and FN 5.7 caliber semi-automatic pistols. Many firearms are purchased in the United States in a semi-automatic configuration before being converted to fire as select fire machine guns. ^[122] In 2009, Mexico seized more than 4,400 firearms of the AK-47 and AR-15 types, many had been modified to turn them into assault rifles. ^[123] Grenade launchers are known to have been used against Mexican security forces, and M4 Carbines with M203 grenade launchers have been confiscated.^[124] It is believed that some of these high powered weapons and related accessories may have been stolen from U.S. military bases.^[125]^[126]

Gun origins

Research has asserted that most weapons and arms trafficked into Mexico are from gun dealers in the United States.^[127] In response to a 2009 GAO report that claimed 87% of Mexican crime guns traced to U.S. origins, the DHS pointed out that "DHS officials believe that the 87 percent statistic is misleading. (i.e: out of approximately 30,000 weapons siezed in Mexico, approximately 4,000 could be traced and 87 percent of those - 3,480 - originated in the United States.^[128]

In an effort to control smuggling of firearms, the U.S. government is assisting Mexico with technology, equipment and training.^[129] Project Gunrunner is one such effort between the U.S. and Mexico to collaborate in tracing Mexican guns which were manufactured in or imported legally to the U.S.A.^[130]

On February 2008, William Hoover, Assistant Director for Field Operations of ATF, testified before the U.S. Congress that over 90% of the firearms that have either been recovered in, or interdicted in transport to Mexico originated from various sources within the United States.^[131] The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and others have disagreed with these figures, pointing that the Mexican sample submitted for ATF tracing is the fraction of weapons seized that appear to have been made in the U.S. or imported into the U.S.^[132]^[133] While the United States is not the only source of firearms and munitions used by the cartels, ATF says that it has been established that a 'significant' percentage of their firearms originate from gun stores and other sources in the U.S.^[134]

Gun-rights groups in the U.S. use lower firearm tracing figures that advance their goals ^[135] while U.S. gun control advocates use higher figures to call for re-enactment of the expired Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994-2004.^[136]

Project Gunrunner

ATF Project Gunrunner has a stated official objective to stop the sale and export of guns from the United States into Mexico in order to deny Mexican drug cartels the firearms considered "tools of the trade".^[137] However, in February 2008 it brought about a scandal when the project was accused of accomplishing the opposite by ATF permitting and facilitating 'straw purchase' firearm sales to traffickers, and allowing the guns to 'walk' and be transported to Mexico. Several of the guns sold under the Project Gunrunner were recovered from crime scenes in Arizona,^[138] and at crime scenes throughout Mexico,^[139] resulting in considerable controversy.^[140]^[141]^[142]

Effects in Mexico

Violence

The Mexican attorney general's office has claimed that 9 of 10 victims of the Mexican Drug War are members of organized-crime groups,^[143] although this figure has been questioned by other sources.^[144] Deaths among military and police personnel are an estimated 7% of the total.^[145] The states that suffer from the conflict most are Baja California, Guerrero, Chihuahua, Michoacán, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León and Sinaloa. President Calderón's government is currently fighting the traffickers, especially in his home state of Michoacán, but there are more operations taking place in the states of Jalisco and Guerrero, and in 2009 drug-related violence increased considerably in Sonora.

By January 2007, these various operations had extended to the states of Guerrero as well as the so-called "Golden Triangle States" of Chihuahua, Durango, and Sinaloa. In the following February the states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas were included as well.

Seizures and arrests have jumped since Calderón took office in December 2006, and Mexico has extradited more than 100 people wanted in the U.S.^{[citation needed]}

On July 10, 2008, the Mexican government announced plans to nearly double the size of its Federal Police force to reduce the role of the military in combating drug trafficking.^[146] The plan, known as the Comprehensive Strategy Against Drug Trafficking, also involves purging local police forces of corrupt officers. Elements of the plan have already been set in motion, including a massive police recruiting and training effort intended to reduce the country's dependence in the drug war on the military.^{[citation needed]}

On July 16, 2008, the Mexican Navy intercepted a 10-meter long narco submarine travelling about 200 kilometers off the southwest of Oaxaca; in a raid, Special Forces rappelled from a helicopter onto the deck of the submarine and arrested four smugglers before they could scuttle their vessel. The vessel was found to be loaded with 5.8 tons of cocaine and was towed to Huatulco, Oaxaca, by a Mexican Navy patrol boat.^[147]^[148]^[149]^[150]^[151]

One escalation^{[according to whom?]} in this conflict is the traffickers' use of new means to claim their territory and spread fear. Cartel members have broadcast executions on YouTube^[152] and on other video sharing sites or shock sites, since the footage is sometimes so graphic that YouTube will not host the video. The cartels have also tossed body parts into crowded nightclubs and hung banners on streets that are often stating their demands and/or warnings.^[153] The 2008 Morelia grenade attacks took place on September 15, 2008, when two hand grenades were thrown onto a crowded plaza, killing ten people and injuring more than 100.^[154] Some see these efforts as intended to sap the morale of government agents assigned to crack down on the cartels; others see them as an effort to let citizens know who is winning the war. At least one dozen Mexican norteño musicians have been murdered. Most of the victims performed what are known as corridos, popular folk songs that tell the stories of the Mexican drug trade—and celebrate its leaders as folk heroes.^[155]

The extreme violence is jeopardizing foreign investment in Mexico, and the Finance Minister, Agustín Carstens, said that the deteriorating security alone is reducing gross domestic product annually by 1% in Mexico, Latin America's second-largest economy.^[156]

Teachers in the Acapulco region were "extorted, kidnapped and intimidated" by cartels, including death threats demanding money. They went on strike in 2011.^[157]

Government corruption

Mexican cartels advance their operations, in part, by corrupting or intimidating law enforcement officials.^[3]^[158]^[159] The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) reports that although the central government of Mexico has made concerted efforts to reduce corruption in recent years, it remains a serious problem.^[160]^[161] Some agents of the Federal Investigations Agency (AFI) are believed to work as enforcers for various cartels, and the Attorney General (PGR) reported in December 2005 that nearly 1,500 of AFI's 7,000 agents were under investigation for suspected criminal activity and 457 were facing charges.^[158]

In recent years, the federal government conducted purges and prosecution of police forces in Nuevo Laredo, Michoacán, Baja California and Mexico City.^[158] The anti-cartel operations begun by President Calderón in December 2006 includes ballistic checks of police weapons in places where there is concern that police are also working for the cartels. In June 2007, President Calderón purged 284 federal police commanders from all 31 states and the Federal District.^[158]

Under the 'Cleanup Operation' performed in 2008, several agents and high ranking officials have been arrested and charged with selling information or protection to drug cartels;^[162]^[163] some high profile arrests were: Victor Gerardo Garay Cadena,^[164] (chief of the Federal Police), Noé Ramírez Mandujano (ex-chief of the Organized Crime Division (SIEDO)), José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos (ex-chief of the Organized Crime Division (SIEDO)), and Ricardo Gutiérrez Vargas who is the ex-director of Mexico's Interpol office. In January 2009, Rodolfo de la Guardia García, ex-director of Mexico's Interpol office, was arrested.^[165] Julio César Godoy Toscano, who was just elected July 5, 2009 to the lower house of Congress, is charged with being a top-ranking member of La Familia Michoacana drug cartel and of protecting this cartel.^[166] He is now a fugitive.

In May 2010 an NPR report collected allegations from dozens of sources, including US and Mexican media, Mexican police officials, politicians, academics, and others, that Sinaloa Cartel had infiltrated and corrupted the Mexican federal government and the Mexican military by bribery and other means. The reports also alleged that Sinaloa was colluding with the government to destroy other cartels and protect itself and its leader, 'Chapo'. Mexican officials denied any corruption in the government's treatment of drug cartels.^[109]^[110] Cartels had previously been reported as difficult to prosecute "because members of the cartels have infiltrated and corrupted the law enforcement organizations that are supposed to prosecute them, such as the Office of the Attorney General."^[167]

Impact on human rights

The US drug control policies in Mexico that have been adopted to prevent drug trafficking via Mexico and to eliminate the power of the drug cartels that bring about corruption, terror and violence have adversely affected the human rights situation in Mexico. These policies have given the responsibilities for civilian drug control to the military, which has the power to not only carry out anti-drug and public security operations but also enact policy. According to the United States Department of State, the police and the military in Mexico were accused of committing serious human rights violations as they carried out government efforts to combat drug cartels.^[168] Immense power in the executive branch and corruption in the legislative and judiciary branches also contribute to the worsening of Mexico’s human rights situation, leading to such problems as police forces violating basic human rights through torture and threats, the autonomy of the military and its consequences and the ineffectiveness of the judiciary in upholding and preserving basic human rights. Some of the forms of human rights violations in recent years presented by human rights organizations include illegal arrests, secret and prolonged detention, torture, rape, extrajudicial execution, and fabrication of evidence.^[169]^[170]^[171] The US Drug Policy fails to target high-level traffickers. In the 1970s, as part of Operation Condor, the Mexican government sent 10,000 soldiers and police to a poverty-stricken region in northern Mexico plagued by drug production and leftist insurgency. Hundreds of peasants were arrested, tortured, and jailed, but not a single big drug trafficker was captured.^[172]

The emergence of internal federal agencies that are often unregulated and unaccountable also contributes to the occurrence of human rights violations.^{[according to whom?]} It has been found^{[by whom?]} that the Federal Investigations Agency (Agencia Federal de Investigación-AFI) of Mexico had been involved with numerous human rights violation cases involving torture and corruption. One well-known case^{[dubious – discuss]} is the death of a detainee, Guillermo Velez Mendoza while in the custody of AFI agents. The AFI agent implicated in his death was arrested but he escaped after being released on bail.^[173] Similarly, nearly all AFI agents evaded punishment and arrest due to the corrupt executive and judiciary system and the supremacy of these agencies.^{[citation needed]} The Attorney General's Office reported in December 2005 that one-fifth of its officers were under investigation for criminal activity, and that nearly 1,500 of AFI's 7,000 agents were under investigation for suspected criminal activity and 457 were facing charges.^[174]^[175] The AFI was finally declared a failure and was disbanded in 2009.^[176]

Ethnic prejudices have also emerged in the drug war, and poor and helpless indigenous communities have been targeted by the police, military, drug traffickers and the justice system. According to the National Human Rights Commission (Mexico) (Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos-CNDH), nearly one-third of the indigenous prisoners in Mexico in 2001 were in prison for federal crimes, which are mostly drug related.^[177]

Another major concern is the lack of implementation of the Leahy Law in U.S. and the consequences of that in worsening the human rights situation in Mexico. Under this U.S. law, no member or unit of a foreign security force that is credibly alleged to have committed a human rights violation may receive U.S. security training. It is alleged^{[by whom?]} that the U.S., by training the military and police force in Mexico, is in violation of the Leahy Law. In this case, the U.S. embassy officials in Mexico in charge of human rights and drug control programs are blamed with aiding and abetting these violations. In December 1997, a group of heavily armed Mexican special forces soldiers kidnapped twenty young men in Ocotlan, Jalisco, brutally torturing them and killing one. Six of the implicated officers had received U.S. training as part of the Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales (GAFE) training program.^[178]

Journalists and the media

Mexico is considered the most dangerous country in the world to practice journalism, according to the National Human Rights Commission and the Reporters Without Borders, since more than 80 journalists have been killed for publishing narco-related news.^[179]^[180]

Offices of Televisa and of local newspapers have been bombed.^[181] The cartels have also threatened to kill news reporters in the U.S. who have done coverage on the drug violence.^[182] Some media networks simply stopped reporting on drug crimes, while others have been infiltrated and corrupted by drug cartels.^[183]^[184] In 2011, Notiver journalist Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco and his wife and son were murdered in their home.^[185]

About 74 percent of the journalists killed since 1992 in Mexico have been reporters for print newspapers, followed in number by Internet media and radio at about 11 percent each. Television journalism only includes 4 percent of the deaths.^[186] These numbers seem a bit disproportionate — in 2006, there were 462 newspapers registered with the Secretariat of the Interior. The newspaper with the largest circulation of any in Mexico has a circulation of a mere 385,000,^[187] about the size of the Houston Chronicle, the tenth largest in the United States.^[188] Online publications still do not have the influence print has, with only 22.5 percent of households having Internet access.^{[year needed]} But 82.5 percent of households own a radio and 94.7 percent have a television set.^[189] There is no clear explanation of why a medium that reaches a much smaller portion of the population is statistically much more dangerous, but typically, print journalists are in the field more often than broadcast.^{[citation needed]}

Since harassment neutralized many of the traditional media outlets, anonymous blogs like Blog del Narco took on the role of reporting on events related to the drug war.^[190] The drug cartels responded by murdering bloggers & social media users. Twitter users have been tortured and killed for posting and denouncing information of the drug cartels activities.^[191] In September 2011, user NenaDLaredo of the website Nuevo Laredo Envivo was murdered allegedly by the Zetas.^[192]

Murders of politicians

A total of 28 mayors have been assassinated all across the country since the start of the drug war;^[193] over 120 mayors have been threatened, too.^[194] In addition, a candidate for governor of Tamaulipas^[195] and 1 congressman has also been killed.^[196]

Exploitation of migrants

The cartels engage in kidnapping, ransom and extortion of migrants and force them to join their organizations. A portion of the murders appear to be the result of mass kidnapping and robbery of migrants. Mass graves have been discovered in Mexico containing bodies of migrants.^[197] In a San Fernando, Mexico, case most of the dead had "died of blunt force trauma to the head."^[198] The cartels have also infiltrated the Mexican government's immigration agencies, and attacked and threatened immigration officers.^[199] The National Human Rights Commission of Mexico (Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos, CNDH) said that 11,000 migrants had been kidnapped in 6 months in 2010 by drug cartels.^[200]

Effects internationally

Europe

Improved cooperation of Mexico with the U.S. led to the recent arrests of 755 Sinaloa cartel suspects in U.S. cities and towns, but the U.S. market is being eclipsed by booming demand for cocaine in Europe, where users now pay twice the going U.S. rate.^[32] U.S. Attorney General announced September 17, 2008 that an international drug interdiction operation, Project Reckoning, involving law enforcement in the United States, Italy, Canada, Mexico and Guatemala had netted more than 500 organized crime members involved in the cocaine trade. The announcement highlighted the Italian-Mexican cocaine connection.^[38]

In December 2010 the government of Spain remarked that Mexican cartels have multiplied their operations in that country, becoming the main entry point of cocaine into Europe.^[201]

Guatemala

The Mexican Army crackdown has driven some cartels to seek a safer location for their operations across the border in Guatemala, attracted by corruption, weak policing and its position on the overland smuggling route.^[202]^[203] The smugglers pick up drugs from small planes that land at private airstrips hidden in the Guatemalan jungle. The cargo is then moved up through Mexico to the U.S. border. Guatemala has also arrested dozens of drug suspects and torched huge cannabis and poppy fields, but is struggling. The U.S. government has sent speedboats and night-vision goggles under a regional drug aid package, but much more is needed. In February 2009, Los Zetas Cartel threatened to kill the President of Guatemala, Álvaro Colom.^[204] On March 1, 2010, Guatemala's chief of national police and the country's top anti-drugs official have been arrested over alleged links to drug trafficking.^[203] A report from the Brookings Institution^[205] warns that, without proactive, timely efforts, the violence will spread throughout the Central American region.^[206]

According to the United States government, Los Zetas control 75% of Guatemala through violence, political corruption and infiltration in the country's institutions.^[207] Sources mentioned that Los Zetas gained ground in Guatemala after they killed several high-profile members and the supreme leader of Los Leones, an organized crime group from Guatemala.^[208]

West Africa

At least nine Mexican and Colombian drug cartels have established bases in 11 West African nations.^[209] They are reportedly working closely with local criminal gangs to carve out a staging area for access to the lucrative European market. The Colombian and Mexican cartels have discovered that it is much easier to smuggle large loads into West Africa and then break that up into smaller shipments to Europe - mostly Spain, the United Kingdom and France.^[209] Higher demand for cocaine in Western Europe in addition to North American interdiction campaigns has led to dramatically increased trafficking in the region: nearly 50% of all non-U.S. bound cocaine, or about 13% of all global flows, is now smuggled through West Africa.^[210]

North America

Canada

The Mexican Army has severely curtailed the ability of the Mexican drug cartels to move cocaine inside the U.S. and Canada, prompting an upsurge in gang violence in Vancouver, where the cocaine price has increased from $23,300 to almost $39,000 per kilo as both the U.S. and Canadian drug markets are experiencing prolonged shortages of cocaine.^[32] As evidence of this pressure, the U.S. government says the amount of cocaine seized on U.S. soil dropped by 41 percent between early 2007 and mid-2008.^[32]

United States

The U.S. Justice Department considers the Mexican drug cartels the greatest organized crime threat to the United States.^[211] During the first 18 months of Calderón's presidency, the Mexican government has spent about $7 billion USD in the war against drugs.^[212] In seeking partnership from the United States, Mexican officials point out that the illicit drug trade is a shared problem in need of a shared solution, and remark that most of the financing for the Mexican traffickers comes from American drug consumers.^[213] On March 25, 2009, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, stated that "Our [America's] insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade", and that "the United States bears shared responsibility for the drug-fueled violence sweeping Mexico."^[214] U.S. State Department officials are aware that Mexican president Felipe Calderón’s willingness to work with the United States is unprecedented on issues of security, crime and drugs, so the U.S. Congress passed legislation in late June 2008 to provide Mexico and Central American countries with $1.6 billion USD for the Mérida Initiative, a three-year international assistance plan. The Mérida Initiative provides Mexico and Central American countries with law enforcement training and equipment, as well as technical advice to strengthen the national justice systems. The Mérida Initiative does not include cash or weapons. In January 2009, a U.S. military assessment expressed some concern that if the war is extended 25 years, it could cause a collapse of the Mexican government due to the military strength of organized crime, and that the conflict could possibly spread to border states.^[215]^[216] Currently, the Mexican drug cartels already have a presence in most major U.S. cities.^[217] In 2009, the Justice Department has reported that Mexican drug cartels have infiltrated nearly 200 cities across the United States,^[218] including Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta.^[219]

Multiple researchers propose focusing on prevention, treatment and education programs to curb demand rather than the continued support of combating the supply of drugs. Studies show that military interdiction efforts fail because they ignore the root cause of the problem: U.S. demand. During the early to mid-1990s, the Clinton administration ordered and funded a major cocaine policy study by the Rand Drug Policy Research Center; the study concluded that $3 billion USD should be switched from federal and local law enforcement to treatment. The report said that treatment is the cheapest and most effective way to cut drug use. President Clinton's drug czar's office rejected slashing law enforcement spending.^[220] The Bush administration proposed cutting spending on drug treatment and prevention programs by $73 million, or 1.5%, in the 2009 budget.^[156]

U.S. death toll and national security

U.S. authorities are reporting a spike in killings, kidnappings and home invasions connected to Mexico's cartels, and at least 19 Americans were killed in 2008.^[221]^[222] Another 92 Americans were killed between June 2009 and June 2010.^[223]

For the U.S. Joint Forces Command, in terms of worst-case scenarios, Mexico bears some consideration for sudden collapse in the next two decades as the government, its politicians, police, and judicial infrastructure are all under sustained assault and pressure by criminal gangs and drug cartels.^[215] The Joint Forces Command are concerned that this internal conflict will have a major impact on the stability of the Mexican state over the next several years, and therefore would demand an American response based on the implications for homeland security alone.^[215] In March 2009, the United States Department of Homeland Security said that it is considering using the National Guard to counter the threat of drug violence in Mexico from spreading to the US. The governors of Arizona and Texas have asked the federal government to send additional National Guard troops to help those already there supporting local law enforcement efforts against drug trafficking.^[46] The call for National Guard on the border greatly increased after the 2010 murder of Arizona rancher Robert Krentz, possibly at the hands of Mexican drug smugglers.^[224]^[225]

In March 2009, the Obama administration outlined plans to redeploy more than 500 federal agents to border posts and redirect $200 million to combat smuggling of illegal drugs, money and weapons.^[226] On May 25, 2010 President Obama authorized deployment of 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S. border with Mexico to assist with border protection and enforcement activities, as well as help train additional Customs and Border Protection agents.^[227]

Controversies

Policy failure

According to former Presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil, Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and César Gaviria of Colombia, the United States-led drug war is pushing Latin America into a downward spiral; Mr. Cardoso said in a conference that "the available evidence indicates that the war on drugs is a failed war".^[228] The panel of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy commission, headed by Cardoso, stated that the countries involved in this war should remove the "taboos" and re-examine the anti-drug programs. Latin American governments have followed the advice of the U.S. to combat the drug war, but the policies had little effect. The commission made some recommendations to President Barack Obama to consider new policies, such as decriminalization of cannabis (marijuana) and to treat drug use as a public health problem and not as a security problem.^[229] The Council on Hemispheric Affairs states it is time to seriously consider drug decriminalization and legalization,^[230] a policy initiative that would be in direct opposition to the interests of criminal gangs.

Money laundering

Despite the fact that Mexican drug cartels and their Colombian suppliers generate, launder and remove $18 billion to $39 billion from the United States each year,^[231] the U.S. and Mexican governments have been criticized for their unwillingness or slow response to confront the various cartels' financial operations, including money laundering.^[231]^[232]^[233]

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has identified the need to increase financial investigations relating to the movement of illegal drug funds to Mexico.^[234] The DEA states that attacking the financial infrastructure of drug cartels has to play a key role in any viable drug enforcement strategy.^[234]^[235] However, the U.S. DEA has noted that the U.S. and Mexican financial services industry continues to be a facilitator for drug money movement.^[156]^[234] Following suit, in August 2010 President Felipe Calderón proposed sweeping new measures to crack down on the cash smuggling and money laundering. Calderón proposes a ban on cash purchases of real estate and of certain luxury goods that cost more than 100,000 pesos (about USD $8,104.) His package would also require more businesses to report large transactions, such as real estate, jewelry and purchases of armor plating.^[233] In June 2010, Calderón "announced strict limits on the amount in U.S. dollars that can be deposited or exchanged in banks",^[233] but the proposed restrictions to financial institutions are facing tough opposition in the Mexican legislature.^[231]^[233]

In 2011 the Observer reported that Wachovia, at one time a major US bank, was implicated in laundering money for Mexican drug lords, through its lax laundering controls (a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act).^[236]

Demand

RAND studies released in the mid-1990s found that using drug user treatment to reduce drug consumption in the United States is seven times more cost effective than law enforcement efforts alone, and it could potentially cut consumption by a third.^[237]

In FY2011, the Obama Administration requests approximately $5.6 billion to support demand reduction. This includes a 13% increase for prevention and a nearly 4% increase for treatment. The overall FY 2011 counter-drug request for supply reduction and domestic law enforcement is $15.5 billion with $521.1 million in new funding.^[238]

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^ http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/polarization-and-sustained-violence-mexicos-cartel-war Stratfor an authority on strategic and tactical intelligence issues.
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^ Stone, Hannah. “Mexico Media Pact Marks PR Battle in Drug War.” Insightcrime.org, March 29, 2011. http://insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/720-mexico-media-pact-marks-pr-battle-in-drug-war.
^ Thompson, Barnard (2010-05-21). "An Inside Look at Mexican Guns and Arms Trafficking". Mexidata.info. Retrieved 2010-12-11. The inhabitants of the United Mexican States have the right to have arms in their domicile for their protection and legitimate defense
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^ Education Is Latest Casualty In Mexico's Drug War, 2011 9 28 by JASON BEAUBIEN , NPR
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^ "Crime-torn Mexican 'FBI' Investigates 1,500 Agents," Reuters, December 4, 2005; Tim Gaynor and Monica Medel, "Drug Gangs Corrupt Mexico's Elite 'FBI,'" Reuters, December 6, 2005; and, Laurie Freeman, State of Siege: Drug-Related Violence and Corruption in Mexico, Washington Office on Latin America, June 2006.
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^ ""Narcos" atacan estación de Televisa". BBC Mundo. 7 de enero de 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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^ Crossing Continents: Murder, migration and Mexico, Linda Pressly BBC, August 2011
^ More than 11,000 migrants abducted in Mexico, BBC, 23 February 2011
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^ "Mexican drug gang menace spreads in Guatemala". Uk.reuters.com. 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
^ ^a ^b "Guatemala police chief arrested over 'cocaine link'". BBC News. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-03. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ McDermott, Jeremy (2009-03-02). "Mexican cartel threatens Guatemala President". London: Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
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^ "El cártel mexicano de Los Zetas controla el 75% de Guatemala". Infobae. 2010-12-24.
^ "Los Zetas controlan seis regiones en Guatemala". El Salvador Noticias. 25 December 2010.
^ ^a ^b Brice, Arthur (2009-09-21). "Latin American drug cartels find home in West Africa". CNN News. Retrieved 2009-09-21. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
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*Donnelly, John (2000). "Narcotics Bill Reopens Drug War Debate Colombia Measure Spurs New Look At Us Policy". The Boston Globe. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
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Bibliography

Vulliamy, Ed, Amexica: War Along the Borderline, Bodley Head, 2010. ISBN 978-1-84792-128-4
Grillo, Ioan, El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency, Bloomsburry Publishing, 2011. ISBN 978-1-60819-211-3

External links

Map of Mexican Drug War violence
Statistics of Crime in Mexico
The War on Drugs
Bowers, Charles. "The Mexican Kidnapping Industry" An academic paper examining both the emergence of kidnapping as a drug war spillover, and statewide variance in Mexico's kidnapping statutes.
AP interactive map: Mexican Drug Cartels
Map: Areas of cartels' influences
The Mexican Zetas and Other Private Armies - written by the Strategic Studies Institute.
El Blog del Narco. A blog in Spanish with current news.
Mexico page on InSight Crime. Ongoing reporting on Mexico's drug war and involved cartels.
Gun politics in Mexico. Explanation of owning guns in Mexico.
Discussion on guns smuggled from U.S. to Mexico.
Mexico's Lone Gunshop.
The Last Narco, book about the current phase of the drug war by journalist Malcolm Beith.
[2] El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency, A report on the history and inner workings of drug cartels by journalist Ioan Grillo.
Mexican drug war statistics Analyzing and visualizing of data (released by the government) of all crime statistics from January 1997 to October 2010, as reported by the various police forces operating in Mexico.
Mapping drug war related homicides in 2010
BBC documentary (2010): Mexico's Drug War
Los Angeles Times Feature on Mexico's Drug War
WM Consulting Independent consulting firm that specializes in collecting data regarding the death toll of the Mexican Drug War.

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[6] EXCLUSIVE: 100,000 foot soldiers in Mexican cartels

[7] Mexico Federal Troops and police rush into Juarez to try and retake the city

[8] U.S. Says Threat of Mexican Drug Cartels Approaching 'Crisis Proportions'

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[13] "En menos de 5 años han muerto más de mil niños a manos del narco". Excelsior (in Spanish). 19 March 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-20.

[informe_2010-14] "Oficial: más de 22 mil 700 muertos por violencia". El Universal (in Spanish). April 13, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-14. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

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[governmentStatistics-16] El Universal Oficial: más de 22 mil 700 muertos por violencia

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[157] Education Is Latest Casualty In Mexico's Drug War, 2011 9 28 by JASON BEAUBIEN , NPR

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[171] Reuters, “Peasants in Rural Mexico Claim Army Brutality,” 17 November 2003.

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[177] Government of Mexico, Estadisticas judiciales en Materia Penal, Cuaderno No. 10 (Mexico City: Instituto nacional de Estadistica, Geografia, e Informatica, 2003), Chart 2.6.2, p. 478.

[178] La Jornada, “Admite el Pentagono que Adiestro a 6 Militares Mexicanos Violadores de Derechos Humanos,” 28 June 1998.

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[180] "México es considerado como el país más peligroso para los periodistas". TeleSUR. 3 de Mayo de 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

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[182] "Mexican Drug Cartel Threatens to Kill Texas News Reporters". CNN News. July 16, 2007.

[183] "Periodistas mexicanos trabajan para el narco, acusa diario de EU". La Policiaca. Retrieved 27 September 2011.

[184] "Violence in Mexico Takes Rising Toll on Press". The Wall Street Journal. August 20, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-21. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help)

[velasco1-185] Journalist, 2 family members murdered in Mexico, EFE from foxnews.com

[186] ttp://www.cpj.org/killed/americas/mexico/

[187] ttp://www.pressreference.com/Ma-No/Mexico.html

[188] ttp://abcas3.accessabc.com/ecirc/newstitlesearchus.asp

[189] ttp://www.inegi.org.mx/

[Tuckman-190] Tuckman, Jo. "Mexico’s drug war — told in tweets and whispers." Dawn. Tuesday September 28, 2010. Retrieved on February 15, 2010.

[191] "Bodies hanging from bridge in Mexico are warning to social media users". CNN. September 14, 2011.

[192] Woman murdered over social media anti-drug lord advocacy September 27, 2011 by Sylvie Barak, TG Daily (Velum Media / DD&M Inc)

[193] "28 Alcaldes ejecutados en lo que va del sexenio". El Universal. Retrieved 3 November 2011.

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[195] Mayors Are New Targets In Mexico's Deadly Drug War by Jason Beaubien, 2010 10 11 via npr.org on 2010 10 11

[196] "Asesinan a diputado mexicano reportado desaparecido". Diario Co Latino. 19 de Septiembre de 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[197] "Body count from mass graves in Mexico rises to 145". Los Angeles Times. April 15, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-18. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help)

[198] "Mass graves in Mexico reveal new levels of savagery". The Washington Post. 24 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-18. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)

[pressly-199] Crossing Continents: Murder, migration and Mexico, Linda Pressly BBC, August 2011

[200] More than 11,000 migrants abducted in Mexico, BBC, 23 February 2011

[201] "Crece en España mafia mexicana". El Universal (in Spanish). 30 December 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-30. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help)

[202] "Mexican drug gang menace spreads in Guatemala". Uk.reuters.com. 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2011-03-28.

[Miglierini-203] "Guatemala police chief arrested over 'cocaine link'". BBC News. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-03. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

[204] McDermott, Jeremy (2009-03-02). "Mexican cartel threatens Guatemala President". London: Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-03-28.

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[207] "El cártel mexicano de Los Zetas controla el 75% de Guatemala". Infobae. 2010-12-24.

[208] "Los Zetas controlan seis regiones en Guatemala". El Salvador Noticias. 25 December 2010.

[Brice-209] Brice, Arthur (2009-09-21). "Latin American drug cartels find home in West Africa". CNN News. Retrieved 2009-09-21. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

[210] Felbab-Brown, Vanda. "The West African Drug Trade in the Context of the Region's Illicit Economies and Poor Governance", The Brookings Institution, 14 October 2010.

[211] "Testimony of Secretary Janet Napolitano before Senate (March 25, 2009)". Dhs.gov. 2009-03-25. Retrieved 2011-03-28.

[212] "Merida Initiative Will Help Battle Drug Trafficking". Newsblaze.com. 2008-07-01. Retrieved 2011-03-28.

[213] "Americans finance Mexican traffickers". Worldblog.msnbc.msn.com. Retrieved 2011-03-28.

[214] Drugs, Guns and a Reality Check The Washington Post.. Retrieved July 21, 2009.

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[216] Blair, David (2009-01-16). "Mexico in danger of collapse". London: Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-03-28.

[Associated_Press-217] "Mexican Cartels: Drug organizations extending reach farthen into U.S". Associated Press. 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-31. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

[218] "Border violence threatens Americans". The Washington Times. April 1, 2010.

[219] "Mexican cartels plague Atlanta". USATODAY.com. March 9, 2009

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*Donnelly, John (2000). "Narcotics Bill Reopens Drug War Debate Colombia Measure Spurs New Look At Us Policy". The Boston Globe. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
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[221] "American Death toll". Americanchronicle.com. Retrieved 2011-03-28.

[222] "Mexican Drug Violence Spills Over Into US". Huffingtonpost.com. 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2011-03-28.

[223] "Officials: 92 Americans killed by homicide in Mexico in last year | killed, hartley, shot - Island Breeze". 26.11184;-97.168126: spislandbreeze.com. 2010-11-02. Retrieved 2011-03-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

[224] "Lawmakers Demand Administration Deploy National Guard, Border Patrol After Killing". Fox News. March 30, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2010.

[SVHerald_NothingNew-225] Derek Jordan (May 4, 2010). "Dever says nothing new in investigation". Sierra Vista Herald. Retrieved May 4, 2010.

[226] "Obama Mexico border plan not enough-US senator". Reuters. 2009-03-25. Retrieved 2011-03-28.

[227] Obama Authorizes Deployment of More National Guard Troops Along Border. ABC News. May 25, 2010.

[228] De Cordoba, Jose (February 12, 2009). "Latin American Panel Calls U.S. Drug War a Failure". The Wall Street Journal.

[229] Goodman, Joshua (2009-02-11). "Cardoso, Gaviria, Zedillo Urge Obama to Decriminalize Marijuana". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2011-03-28.

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[Booth-231] "Mexico targets money laundering with plan to limit cash transactions". The Washington Post. August 26, 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-26. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help)

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[236] How a big US bank laundered billions from Mexico's murderous drug gangs Ed Vulliamy, The Observer, Sunday 3 April 20, 2011, guardian.co.uk

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@@ Line 186: / Line 186: @@
 <ref>Stone, Hannah. “Mexico Media Pact Marks PR Battle in Drug War.” Insightcrime.org, March 29, 2011. http://insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/720-mexico-media-pact-marks-pr-battle-in-drug-war.</ref> {{User sandbox}}
 <!-- EDIT BELOW THIS LINE -->
-==Cartel Propaganda==
-{{main|Propaganda in the Mexican Drug War}}
-[[Drug cartel|Drug cartels]] have been engaged in [[propaganda]] and psychological campaigns to influence their rivals and those within their area of influence. They use banners and "narcomantras" to threaten their rivals. Some cartels hand out pamphlets and leaflets to conduct public relation campaigns. They have been able to control the information environment by threatening journalists, bloggers, and others who speak out against them. They have elaborate recruitment strategies targeting young adults to join their cartel groups. They have successfully branded the word "narco", and the word has become part of Mexican culture. There is music, television shows, literature, beverages, food, and architecture that all have been branded "narco".<ref>“Mexico Security Memo: Mitigating the Threat of Affiliate Groups”, February 8, 2012. http://stratfor.com/analysis/mexico-security-memo-mitigating-threat-affiliate-groups.</ref>
-===Propaganda===
-The drug war has become a rich with examples of propaganda and other means of [[psychological warfare]]. Cartels often use “high impact, often dramatic communication methods to threaten opponents, announce new policies, and most importantly, to seek grassroots support.”<ref>Pachico, Elyssa. “Mexican Drug War Blog Hit by ‘Govt Intervention” Insightcrime.org, October 21, 2011. http://insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/1764-mexican-drug-war-blog-hit-by-govt-intervention.</ref> They have branded themselves as dangerous and fear mongering to those speak out against them. They showcase their  lavish lifestyle, providing simple public services to citizens, while acting as protectors from the government.  More often deceased drug gangsters have been honored with tombs of ivory with beautiful paintings.<ref>Beckhusen, Robert. “Que Malo, Narcos! Mexico Attacks Cartels With Comics.” Wired, September 9, 2011. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/mexico-attacks-cartels-with-comics/.</ref>
-They have seeped into the everyday life as civilians pass by walls of graffiti and road signs with digital media employing cartel public relations.<ref>Sullivan, John. “Cartel Info Ops: Power and Counter-power in Mexico’s Drug War.” www.MountainRunner.us, November 15, 2010. http://mountainrunner.us/2010/11/cartel_info_ops_power_and_counter-power_in_mexico_drug_war/.</ref> There is now a “narco” vocabulary describing cartel related  music, literature, and daily television shows.<ref>Beckhusen, Robert. “Que Malo, Narcos! Mexico Attacks Cartels With Comics.” Wired, September 9, 2011. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/mexico-attacks-cartels-with-comics/.</ref> In addition, there are narcocastillas (castles) and narcocervoza (beer).<ref>Ibid</ref> Some of the narcoliterature include books such as “El Amente de Janis Joplin”, and “Nostalgia de la Sobra.<ref>Grayson, George W. Mexico: Narco-Violence and a Failed State? Transaction Publishers, 2009, p.26.</ref>” There are narcomantras, narcoblockades, narcomanifestacion (demonstrations) and narco corridors.<ref>Grayson, George W. Mexico: Narco-Violence and a Failed State? Transaction Publishers, 2009, p.26.</ref>
-=====Narcocorridos=====
-[[Narcocorridos]] are a type of music that propagates the lifestyle of the drug cartels. It is country style music usually including instruments such as tubas and accordions. The music and music videos are widely popular.  The music video, El Movimiento Alterdo, describing the Sinaloa cartel’s drug violence, received three million hits on YouTube.
-:Sample Lyrics:
-{{pad|4em}} "''Con un cuerno de chivo / y bazuka en la nuca / volando cabezas / al que se atraviesa''" (With an AK / and a bazooka taking aim / blowing off the heads / of whoever gets in the way)<ref>Shachtman, Noah. “Narcocorridos: Music to Mexican Drug Lords’ Ears.” Wired, January 31, 2011. http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/01/pl_narcoscorridos/.</ref>
-The gammy nominated group, Los Tucanes de Tijuana, has now been banned from the Tijuana state for having such as close relationship to the cartels. Their songs include lyrics such as:
-{{pad|4em}} "''With an R-15 in hand / and a satchel of grenades / a pistol on each leg / and a bulletproof vest / dressed in black / ready for battle''"<ref>Shachtman, Noah. “Narcocorridos: Music to Mexican Drug Lords’ Ears.” Wired, January 31, 2011. http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/01/pl_narcoscorridos/.</ref>
-A music video by artist [http://www.myspace.com/marioelcachorrodelgado2 Mario “El Chachorro” Delgado], has people shooting water guns exemplifying AK rifles.
-:Sample lyrics:
-{{pad|4em}} ''“Su cartel ya lo conocen / le llaman La Vecindad / los contrarios por envidia / lo han querido asesinar / pero el ’8′ no está solo / su gente sabe trozar”''  (His cartel is well-known / it’s called La Vecindad / His jealous enemies / want to take him out / but “8″ isn’t alone / his people are killers, too)
-These are just a few examples of the narco-corridos that are becoming so popular in Mexican music.
-====Media====
-The drug cartels have been successful at influencing and manipulating the information environment by issuing their own press releases, controlling the content released about them or violence associated with them, and threatening journalists.  They have managed to control who their audiences are, how they are perceived to them, and ultimately their actions or omission of actions against the them.  They have purchased several newspapers and recruited reporters within which they can control.<ref>Sullivan, John. “Cartel Info Ops: Power and Counter-power in Mexico’s Drug War.” www.MountainRunner.us, November 15, 2010. http://mountainrunner.us/2010/11/cartel_info_ops_power_and_counter-power_in_mexico_drug_war/.</ref> In addition to influencing indegineous reporting, United States’ reporters have stopped covering the drug war and cartel violence as well. U.S. news directors and editors won’t allow their reporters to cover certain drug related stories.<ref>Fleming, Gary “Rusty.” Drug Wars: Narco Warfare in the 21st Century. BookSurge Publishing, 2008</ref> In September 2011, sixty kids were kidnapped in Veracruz and little, if any, news reports or coverage was released from local, statewide, or international media outlets.<ref>Martinez-Amador, David. “The ‘Zeta Killers’ and the Rise of Narco-Horror.” Insightcrime.org, September 29, 2011. http://www.insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/1641-the-zeta-killers-and-the-rise-of-narco-horror.</ref>
-The cartels have had to adjust to the challenges in dominating the information environment in a time when the internet and advanced computer networks have been used against them.  Some cartels have “hired operational security specialist (narcohackers) to cope with the enhanced digital surveillance of their activities.”<ref>Sullivan, John, and Adam Elkus. “Mexican Drug Lords Vs. Cybervigilantes and the Social Media.” Mexidata.info, March 5, 2012. http://www.mexidata.info/id3288.html.</ref> As websites or social media have attempted to shine light on their activities, the cartels respond by threatening execution on their social post or tweets.  They also have been using websites to spread disinformation about their rivals and government officials.<ref>Ibid</ref>
-==== Juárez Cartel Propaganda====
-Narcomantras were placed attempting to antagonize U.S. government agencies around Juarez. The threats included vehicle IEDs against the U.S. consulate. These attacks were carred out by La Linea, Juarez's cartel enforcer group.  However, it is possible “that a rival group deliberately misattributed these threats to La Linea in an effort to incite U.S. reprisal."<ref>“Mexico Security Memo: A New Juarez Cartel.” Stratfor, January 1, 2012. http://stratfor.com/analysis/mexico-security-memo-new-juarez-cartel.</ref>
-====Knights Templar Propaganda====
-''See Also'' [[Knights Templar]]
-The Knights Templar get there name from the Roman Catholic Church’s order of religious warriors. They “cast themselves as defenders of the people”,<ref>“Drug Gang Unveils Banners in Mexico Ahead of Pope Visit.” Associated Press, February 7, 2012. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/02/07/drug-gang-unveils-banners-in-mexico-ahead-pope-visit/.</ref> blaming federal and local authorities for drug violence casualties because the citizens receiving proper protection from the government, especially from Knights Templar’s rival , the Los Zetas.  Each member is required to carry a “code of conduct” booklet stating what they are fighting: poverty, injustice, and tyranny.<ref>“Be a Fair Drug Lord: Mexican ‘Knights Templar’ Gang Distributes Good Conduct Guide.” Dailymail.uk, September 20, 2011. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2016886/Mexican-drug-group-calling-Knights-Templar-distributing-cartoon-religious-handbooks-recruit-followers.html.</ref> It also states that members are prohibited from killing for money or drugs,<ref>“Drug Gang Unveils Banners in Mexico Ahead of Pope Visit.” Associated Press, February 7, 2012. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/02/07/drug-gang-unveils-banners-in-mexico-ahead-pope-visit/.</ref> nor do members use drugs, and all are mandated to have drug tests.<ref>“Be a Fair Drug Lord: Mexican ‘Knights Templar’ Gang Distributes Good Conduct Guide.” Dailymail.uk, September 20, 2011. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2016886/Mexican-drug-group-calling-Knights-Templar-distributing-cartoon-religious-handbooks-recruit-followers.html.</ref> The booklet states the group will “begin a challenging ideological battle to defend the values of a society based on ethics.”<ref>Ibid.</ref> It emphasis loyalty to families and the country and states all members will always respect women and children. The cover of their booklet is a Knight sitting atop a horse while holding a shield and sword, exemplifying the Knights Templar more like warriors and heroes rather than a drug cartel.<ref>Ibid.</ref>
-In addition to their booklet, they use posters, banners, and emblems which all have a religious tone.  They have members hand out propaganda material on public transportation which frequently contains Bible verses and quotes.  They also distribute flyers discrediting the federal authority and asking them to stop abusing and murder innocent civilians. They organize public demonstration in which they hand out free T-shirts with anti-police slogans for each protestors.<ref>Ibid.</ref> They said “they would stand down its own operations if the government secured the state; so the government could no longer use it as a pretext for abusing residents.”<ref>Sullivan, John. “Cartel Info Ops: Power and Counter-power in Mexico’s Drug War.” www.MountainRunner.us, November 15, 2010. http://mountainrunner.us/2010/11/cartel_info_ops_power_and_counter-power_in_mexico_drug_war/.</ref> When the pope went to visit in 2011, the Knights Templar made hand painted, clothe narcobanners asking the violence to seize while his visit.<ref>“Drug Gang Unveils Banners in Mexico Ahead of Pope Visit.” Associated Press, February 7, 2012. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/02/07/drug-gang-unveils-banners-in-mexico-ahead-pope-visit/.</ref>
-The Knights Templar propaganda is especially successful with its religious posture since most of Mexicans are Roman Catholic.  Their propaganda is widespread and when police take down the propaganda the citizens see the federal and local authorizes taking down the Knights Templar religious messages.  Their propaganda is very effective in areas where cartel violence is dense and police protection and resources are lacking.  These are the areas where the Knight Templar exploit, saying they will take justice into their own hands.<ref>“Be a Fair Drug Lord: Mexican ‘Knights Templar’ Gang Distributes Good Conduct Guide.” Dailymail.uk, September 20, 2011. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2016886/Mexican-drug-group-calling-Knights-Templar-distributing-cartoon-religious-handbooks-recruit-followers.html.</ref>
-Knights Templar propaganda maintains a soft tone to civilians, however when they murder gang rivals, they use a much more aggressive approach when sending messages to their rivals.  Right before the pope was scheduled to visit, eight people were found killed with narcomantras on them warning rivals to stay out of the area and their territory while the pope was visiting.<ref>“Mexico Security Memo: Increased Violence Likely in Guanajuato.” Stratfor, February 22, 2012. http://stratfor.com/analysis/mexico-security-memo-increased-violence-likely-guanajuato.</ref>
-====Los Zetas Propaganda====
-The Los Zetas have turned to the internet and media to spread most of their propaganda, using the internet to glorify their lifestyle. There have been numerous YouTube videos of assassinations, torture scenes, and interrogation posted. Although these posts are quickly taken down most of them are likely to been seen and reposted somewhere else.<ref>Fleming, Gary “Rusty.” Drug Wars: Narco Warfare in the 21st Century. BookSurge Publishing, 2008.</ref> When they discover individuals, blogs, or media speaking out against them on the internet, they retaliate in violence.  In September 2011, two people were found hanging from a bridge with a huge narcromantra containing the words “Internet Snitches.”  The banner was address to two particular blog sites that were being used to report uncensored stories about cartel violence.<ref>Pachico, Elyssa. “Mexican Drug War Blog Hit by ‘Govt Intervention” Insightcrime.org, October 21, 2011. http://insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/1764-mexican-drug-war-blog-hit-by-govt-intervention.</ref> In addition, the administrator of the chat site, Nuevo Laredo en Vivo, which is used to share safety and security information, was killed and decapitated.<ref>Pachico, Elyssa. “Mexican Drug War Blog Hit by ‘Govt Intervention” Insightcrime.org, October 21, 2011. http://insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/1764-mexican-drug-war-blog-hit-by-govt-intervention.</ref>
-The Zetas have launched a public relation campaigns through local media outlets. They issue what stories to run and threatened those who do not comply. Many reporters have had their lives taken and threatened, as a result the Zetas do not lack credibility behind their issued threats.  Member of the cartel also write their own stories making the discrediting the Mexican army, spreading rumors about their human rights abuses and exaggerating any misdemeanors by the government forces.<ref>O’Connor, Mike. “Analysis: A PR Department for Mexico’s Narcos.” GlobalPost, November 5, 2010. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/worldview/101026/mexico-drug-war-cartels-newspapers.</ref> “Demands to run propaganda will increase and content more extreme, and newspapers that run stories will go from being silent on the matter of organized crime control to being agents of disinformation helping organized crime strengthen its control over the reign."<ref>O’Connor, Mike. “Analysis: A PR Department for Mexico’s Narcos.” GlobalPost, November 5, 2010. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/worldview/101026/mexico-drug-war-cartels-newspapers.</ref> They do, however, write positive stories about local police forces, most of which are working with the Zetas in some fashion. The Zetas have infiltrated the local government by bribing officers, controlling how local authorities are perceived by civilians in Zetas controlled regions. They keep the public ignorant, therefore, most people trust the officers who are actually working side-by-side with the cartel.<ref>O’Connor, Mike. “Analysis: A PR Department for Mexico’s Narcos.” GlobalPost, November 5, 2010. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/worldview/101026/mexico-drug-war-cartels-newspapers.</ref>
-====Recruitment Strategies====
-To add and maintain membership is key to winning the drug war so cartels rely on propaganda and other psychological warfare tactics to gain support and recruit new members. Cartels are extremely good at targeting high value individuals such as police officer and border agents. These recruitments are important to the cartel operations for they provide knowledge on vulnerabilities within the system, personnel, and they are trained in weapons and torture techniques. “They are the protective shields for drug lords and neutralizing any real government action.”<ref>Payan, Tony. The Three U.S.-Mexico Border Wars: Drugs, Immigration, and Homeland Security. Praeger, 2006, p.40.</ref> Cartels benefit especially from American recruits, devoting much of their resources to US officials. . Americans blend well, speak perfect English, familiar the terrain and roads, and local customs.<ref>Fleming, Gary “Rusty.” Drug Wars: Narco Warfare in the 21st Century. BookSurge Publishing, 2008.</ref> One border agent that can turn away from one operation can have significant long term effects.<ref> Payan, Tony. The Three U.S.-Mexico Border Wars: Drugs, Immigration, and Homeland Security. Praeger, 2006, p.40.</ref>
-Cartels also recruit “[[straw buyers]]”, individuals that do not have prior criminal records which can buy weapons from licensed dealers. Some buyers are housewives, mothers, cousins, kids, elderly, and any families that are less suspicious. They are usually paid $100 a weapon or more.<ref>“ATF Busts Real Housewives Buying Guns for Cartels.” Fox News Latino, September 2, 2011. http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/02/09/atf-busts-gun-running-moms-in-texas/.</ref>
-One of the cartels most pressed targets are the young; they can take a poor, undereducated kid, and give them power and money. <ref>Payan, Tony. The Three U.S.-Mexico Border Wars: Drugs, Immigration, and Homeland Security. Praeger, 2006, p.40.</ref> Cartels attack the education system and its inability to produce role models, idols, or opportunities for young adults. Cartels provide an alternative for the kids, joining the narcoculture and protracting it as life of money, power, respect, expensive cars, and exciting lifestyle.<ref>Beckhusen, Robert. “Que Malo, Narcos! Mexico Attacks Cartels With Comics.” Wired, September 9, 2011. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/mexico-attacks-cartels-with-comics/.</ref> They advertise entry level positions, paying $500 a week.  These positions are filled by kids that are on average 16 years old. Kids are “cheap and expendable"<ref>“Children Hired to Work as ‘Mules’ by Mexican Drug Gangs.” Fox News Latino, March 14, 2011. http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/03/14/mexican-drug-gangs-using-more-children-as-mules/.</ref> to the cartels. They use them as “mules” to carry drugs over the border and look-outs during operations.  If caught, minors are detained have a significant less sentences than adults and are likely to return to the cartels after being released.<ref>“Children Hired to Work as ‘Mules’ by Mexican Drug Gangs.” Fox News Latino, March 14, 2011. http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/03/14/mexican-drug-gangs-using-more-children-as-mules/.</ref>
-The Los Zetas give kids an additional opportunity. Being a cartel with experience in paramilitary operations, they give young recruits the opportunity to join a training programs much like a military boot camp. The recruits can start with operational training in surveillance and then they can move up to an assassination training program. Kids that sign up are taught weaponry, martial arts, hand combat techniques, and precision targeting. They even encourage the trainees to enter paintballing contests and tournaments, asking them to report their scores.  They are taught SERE (survival, evasion, resistance, and escape) methods, torture techniques and how to withstand torture, and aggressive vehicle driving skills including how to escape and drive while limiting collateral damage.<ref>Fleming, Gary “Rusty.” Drug Wars: Narco Warfare in the 21st Century. BookSurge Publishing, 2008.</ref>
-There are even websites aimed at kids, some specifically at American kids coming out of middle school. They advertise their training camps throughout Mexico and along the US border.  In addition, cartels have offered college scholarships to students who wish to study criminal justice, law degrees, encouraging students to become judges and go into law enforcement. They also encourage computer science or other technological related disciplines.<ref>Fleming, Gary “Rusty.” Drug Wars: Narco Warfare in the 21st Century. BookSurge Publishing, 2008.</ref> Because of this recruitment success, “cartel are now more professionalized, hiring highly educated individuals who serve as public relations officers that recruit help of other professionals, including accountants, businessmen to land money, law enforcement officers, doctors, and lawyers.”  <ref>Payan, Tony. The Three U.S.-Mexico Border Wars: Drugs, Immigration, and Homeland Security. Praeger, 2006, p.40.</ref>
-===Counter Propaganda===
-Although journalist are being attacked and threaten for reporting, those that do report were asked to censor their stories so to not popularize the cartel violence. Media outlets have agreed to follow measures to “avoid turning criminals into heroes or victims, as this helps build support with the populations.”<ref>Stone, Hannah. “Mexico Media Pact Marks PR Battle in Drug War.” Insightcrime.org, March 29, 2011. http://insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/720-mexico-media-pact-marks-pr-battle-in-drug-war.</ref> Journalist were urged to do anything in their power to not become an avenue or an inadvertent spokesperson for the cartels. <ref>Stone, Hannah. “Mexico Media Pact Marks PR Battle in Drug War.” Insightcrime.org, March 29, 2011. http://insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/720-mexico-media-pact-marks-pr-battle-in-drug-war.</ref> Because of this, violence and cartel activities were being ignored so independent sources took it upon themselves to report on the drug war. These “cybervigilantes” use online media such as twitter, blogs, and YouTube which have become powerful tools to spread information about the narcoculture. Last year the Anonymous group starting unveiling names of cartel members and sympathizers but the effort quickly faded away.<ref>Sullivan, John, and Adam Elkus. “Mexican Drug Lords Vs. Cybervigilantes and the Social Media.” Mexidata.info, March 5, 2012. http://www.mexidata.info/id3288.html.</ref> [http://www.blogdelnarco.com/ El Blog Del Narco] and [http://www.mundonarco.com/ Mundo Narco] were popular uncensored sites tracking cartel violence, gang uniforms, expansions and  movements, tactics, and weapons of choice. Other sites include [http://twitoaster.com/country-mx/bairely/diario-del-narco-testimonio-de-la-situacion-real-de-tamaulipas/ Diario del Narcro] and [http://www.lapoliciaca.com/ La Policiaca].<ref>Pachico, Elyssa. “Mexican Drug War Blog Hit by ‘Govt Intervention” Insightcrime.org, October 21, 2011. http://insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/1764-mexican-drug-war-blog-hit-by-govt-intervention.</ref>
-In addition, officials have tried to eliminate the word “narco” trying to keep it out of everyday life.<ref>Beckhusen, Robert. “Que Malo, Narcos! Mexico Attacks Cartels With Comics.” Wired, September 9, 2011. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/mexico-attacks-cartels-with-comics/.</ref>  The government also came out with anti-narco comics and songs directed at kids. The Mexican government sponsored a ten episode comic series. They depicted teams of federal offices, military men, and government personnel bringing peace to Mexico by taking down the drug gangs. Each comic attempted to tackle a myth or disinformation spread about the federal government.  One episode featured a father leaving the cartel and reuniting with his wife and son. They included themes such as government official do not negotiate with criminals and murderers. The Mexican government uses these comics to send a message to the youths that “only through strong institutions will Mexico achieve a true and lasting security.”<ref>Grayson, George W. Mexico: Narco-Violence and a Failed State? Transaction Publishers, 2009, p. 122.</ref>
-The Catholic Church also tried to help with the drug war by denouncing consumption and sale of drugs as a “capital sin.”<ref>Grayson, George W. Mexico: Narco-Violence and a Failed State? Transaction Publishers, 2009, p. 122.</ref> In March 2012, Pope Benedict, went to Mexico and spoke to crowds of people:
-::{{pad|4em}} “''It is the responsibility of the Church to educate consciences, to teach moral responsibility and to unmask the evil, to unmask this idolatry of money which enslaves man, to unmask the false promises, the lies, the fraud that is behind drugs.''”<ref>Pullella, Philip, and Mica Rosenberg. “Pope Visits Mexico Pledging to Fight Drugs Evil.” Reuters. LEON, Mexico, March 23, 2012. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/23/us-pope-mexico-idUSBRE82M0RZ20120323</ref>
-Some other counter propaganda campaigns that have been in the works includes providing a narrative and issuing public announcements about importance of rule of law and democracy, providing protection for journalists, and gaining back the information and communication environment.<ref>Sullivan, John. “Cartel Info Ops: Power and Counter-power in Mexico’s Drug War.” www.MountainRunner.us, November 15, 2010. http://mountainrunner.us/2010/11/cartel_info_ops_power_and_counter-power_in_mexico_drug_war/.</ref>
-===Other Means of Psychological Warfare===
-One of the drug cartels most effective tools are their threats and the credibility behind them. When they threaten someone, they usually carry through with it.  There threats are a form of psychological because either through coercion or scare tactics they are influencing their targets perceptions, attitudes, and behavior.  The violence includes everything from beheadings, kidnappings, assassinations, bombings, and grenades.<ref>Sullivan, John. “Cartel Info Ops: Power and Counter-power in Mexico’s Drug War.” www.MountainRunner.us, November 15, 2010. http://mountainrunner.us/2010/11/cartel_info_ops_power_and_counter-power_in_mexico_drug_war/.</ref> .    Many of the dead found show signs of torture such as hands tied behind their back and being set on fire.  Some individuals have been daubed with axel grease and stuffed into a tank or oil drum and then set to fire.  Another popular tactic is dropping victims in homemade acid.  Bodies are often found dumped along the road or in mass graves.<ref>“Mexico Security Memo: Increased Violence Likely in Guanajuato.” Stratfor, February 22, 2012. http://stratfor.com/analysis/mexico-security-memo-increased-violence-likely-guanajuato.</ref>
-Naturally, the cartels most targeted group, journalist, have been influenced by sheer fear. In 2008, 95 journalists were attacked, 28 killed, 8 missing, and dozens threatened.<ref>Grayson, George W. Mexico: Narco-Violence and a Failed State? Transaction Publishers, 2009, p.43.</ref>
-Cartels also use brides and extortion as a means to keeping their business running. They use the motto “plato o plomo” meaning silver or lead. Give them money and protection or face death.<ref>Fleming, Gary “Rusty.” Drug Wars: Narco Warfare in the 21st Century. BookSurge Publishing, 2008, p.106</ref> Kidnappings have become an extortion scheme. Many cartels charge a war tax within their territory and if someone can’t or won’t pay the tax, they or a family member is kidnapped until they can pay.  <ref>Grayson, George W. Mexico: Narco-Violence and a Failed State? Transaction Publishers, 2009, p.43.</ref>
 ==Smuggling of firearms==

v t e Illegal drug trade in Latin America and the Caribbean
Caribbean	Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Cuba Curaçao Dominica Dominican Republic Grenada Haiti Jamaica Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Sint Maarten Trinidad and Tobago
Central America	Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama
Middle America	Mexico
South America	Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador French Guiana Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela
Dependencies not included. Semi-autonomous territories are in italics.