Consequences of Prohibition
Drug War Issues
by Bernd Debusmann, Jr.
Mexican drug trafficking organizations make billions each year trafficking illegal drugs into the United States, profiting enormously from the prohibitionist drug policies of the US government. Since Mexican president Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006 and called the armed forces into the fight against the so-called cartels, prohibition-related violence has killed over 12,000 people, with a death toll of over 5,000 so far in 2009. The increasing militarization of the drug war and the arrest of several high-profile drug traffickers have failed to stem the flow of drugs -- or the violence -- whatsoever. The Merida initiative, which provides $1.4 billion over three years for the US to assist the Mexican government with training, equipment and intelligence, has so far failed to make a difference. Here are a few of the latest developments in Mexico's drug war:
anti-drug patrol by Mexican soldiers
Twenty-three people were killed in drug-related violence in the state of Chihuahua. Eight of these killings occurred in the capital city of Chihuahua, and 12 occurred in Ciudad Juárez. In Chihuahua, four men and a teenager were killed when the vehicle in which they were traveling was ambushed by a group of gunmen. In another part of the city, an eight-year old boy was killed after being hit by a stray bullet. Among the dead in Ciudad Juárez was a woman who was badly burned after an explosive device went off in the brothel in which she was thought to work.
Saturday, November 28
An army officer and six gunmen were killed in two separate gun battles in Zacatecas and Michoacan. In Zacatecas, the army repelled an attack by gunmen, killing five and capturing eight. They also seized five vehicles, weapons, clothing and food. In Michoacan, an army officer was killed after a military convoy was ambushed by gunmen in a hillside community. Two other people were killed in drug-related violence in Michoacan, six in Ciudad Juárez, and one in the greater Mexico City area.
Sunday, November 29
At the Calexico, CA border crossing, authorities seized more than 6,000 pounds of marijuana hidden in a shipment of door knobs. Dogs alerted officers to the truck in which more than 458 wrapped packages of marijuana were found. A 30-year old Mexican national was taken into custody.
In Tijuana, three men were shot and killed by suspected cartel gunmen wielding AK-47s. The killings came just hours after a firefight between soldiers and drug traffickers at a gas station left one soldier wounded in the foot. In another part of Baja California, six men were arrested on suspicion of being tied to a known drug trafficker, Raydel Lopez Uriarte, aka "El Muletas" ("crutches").
Seven people were killed in Chihuahua, six of whom were killed in Ciudad Juárez. One of the murders occurred just feet from soldiers that were guarding the city's main plaza, where national security officials were meeting to analyze drug-related violence. In Chiapas, an anti-mining organizer was killed by a gunman on a motorcycle. Mariano Abarca was head of the Mexican Network of Communities Affected by Mining.
In Reynosa, police rescued a US citizen who had been kidnapped a week earlier in McAllen, Texas. Raul Alvarado, 36, was forced into a vehicle at gunpoint and taken to a safehouse in Reynosa, where he was bound and beaten. His abductors demanded a ransom of $30,000 and two luxury cars. It is unclear if any ransom was paid. There has been an increase in kidnappings on the US side of the border, most of them linked to illegal activity.
Tuesday, December 1
In Mexico City, a protected state witness was gunned down in a Starbucks. Edgar Enrique Bayardo, a former federal policeman, was killed by two gunmen wearing dark suits. His bodyguard was seriously injured in the attack, and a customer at a nearby table was also wounded. Bayardo was arrested last year on suspicion of being employed by the Sinaloa Cartel. Bayardo, whose lavish lifestyle raised suspicion, was made a state witness under the protection of the attorney general's office. He had apparently been followed by gunmen for several days, and it is unclear why he was not better protected or out in public.
Wednesday, December 2
In the Ciudad Juárez area, nine suspected assassins were arrested in an operation carried out by the army. The men are all suspected of working for El Chapo Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel and its enforcement arm, La Linea.
Total Body Count for the Week: 144
Total Body Count for the Year: 6,882
Read the last Mexico Drug War Update here.
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
Comments
The drug control policies of
The drug control policies of the United States of America is the common denominator in the approximately 16,000 deaths in Mexico's drug war.
Drug war entirly American policy
[email protected],Vancouver,B.C.Canada Reformers in Brazil recently lamented that until the US changed it's drug policy there was little chance of change in Brazil.Mexico is pursuing a violent and to this date futile all out war against the cartels.The recent change to Mexican drug laws allowing possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use was not opposed by the Obama administration,unlike the attempt by former president Vincente Fox to pass a more liberal but similar law which was strongly opposed by the former Bush administration.Perhaps GW really did blanc out all those years of cocaine abuse.Canada's attempt to legalize marijuana was opposed by the American government as well as the Mulroney conservatives.The bill was allowed to die on the floor,as former PM John Cretien often lamented.With Stephen Harper in power in Ottawa there is no need for the Americans to bully anymore as Harper is so virulently against any drug reform that he even opposes harm reduction measures like Vancouvers safe injection site which has been forced to submit study after study only to be told that it was to be opposed regardless the results .Iran Contra showed once again that the American government ,while causing a world of misery with it's hard ball drug policy,was supplying enough cocaine to keep the west coast high for years.It can also be blamed for the growth of crack cocaine,which it's conduit in LA chose as his preferred method for sale.With Air America and it's endless supplies of heroin during the Vietnam era it's hard to see how the Americans can claim any just reason for it's rabid drug policies.One day all the collusion will be exposed and there will be many embarrassed people in high places.How long will it be until the son of a drug trafficker becomes president?
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