Here is a glimpse of what lies ahead if we fail to end our second attempt to control the personal habits of private citizens. Listen to Enrique Gomez Hurtado, a former high court judge from Colombia who still has shrapnel in his leg from a bomb sent to kill him by the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar. In 1993, his country was a free-fire zone not unlike Mexico today, and Gomez issued this chilling — and prescient — warning to an international drug policy conference in Baltimore:
“The income of the drug barons is greater than the American defense budget. With this financial power they can suborn the institutions of the State, and if the State resists . . . they can purchase the firepower to outgun it. We are threatened with a return to the Dark Ages.”
Profits from the Mexican drug trade are estimated at about $35 billion a year. And since the cartels spend half to two-thirds of their income on bribery, that would be around $20 billion going into the pockets of police officers, army generals, judges, prosecutors and politicians. Last fall, Mexico’s attorney general announced that his former top drug enforcer, chief prosecutor Noe Ramirez Mandujano, was getting $450,000 a month under the table from the Sinaloa cartel. The cartel can of course afford to be generous — Sinaloa chief Joaquin Joaquin Guzman recently made the Forbes List of Billionaires.
The depth of Joaquin Guzman’s penetration into the United States was revealed a few weeks ago, when the DEA proudly announced hundreds of arrests all over the country in a major operation against the “dangerously powerful” Sinaloa cartel. One jarring detail was the admission that Mexican cartels are now operating in 230 cities inside the United States.
This disaster has been slowly unfolding since the early 1980s, when Vice President George H.W. Bush shut down the Caribbean cocaine pipeline between Colombia and Miami. The Colombians switched to the land route and began hiring Mexicans to deliver the goods across the U.S. border. But when the Mexicans got a glimpse of the truckloads of cash headed south, they decided that they didn’t need the Colombians at all. Today the Mexican cartels are full-service commercial organizations with their own suppliers, refineries and a distribution network that covers all of North America.
As we awaken to the threat spilling over our southern border, the reactions are predictable. In addition to walling off the border, Congress wants to send helicopters, military hardware and unmanned reconnaissance drones into the fray — and it wants the Pentagon to train Mexican troops in counterinsurgency tactics.
Our anti-drug warriors have apparently learned nothing from the past two decades. A few years ago we trained several units of the Mexican army in counterinsurgency warfare. They studied their lessons, then promptly deserted to form the Zetas, a thoroughly professional narco hit squad for the Gulf cartel, which offered considerably better pay. Over the past eight years, the Mexican army has had more than 100,000 deserters.
The president of Mexico rightly points out that U.S. policy is at the root of this nightmare. Not only did we invent the war on drugs, but we are the primary consumers.
The obvious solution is cutting the demand for drugs in the United States. Clearly, it would be the death of the cartels if we could simply dry up the market. Unfortunately, every effort to do this has met with resounding failure. But now that the Roaring ‘00s have hit the Crash of ‘09, the money has vanished once again, and we can no longer ignore the collateral damage of Prohibition II
Here's just this past week's BP record of drugs that were caught, not the ones that "got through via mules:"
USBP Weekly Blotter - September 9 - September 15
Snips:
Reported on September 9, 2010
Tucson Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 1,719 pounds of marijuana and recovered a stolen GMC Sierra truck near Gunsight, Arizona. The vehicle was discovered abandoned and concealed with a tarp and brush in the desert. A search of the vehicle revealed the marijuana.
Reported on September 10, 2010
Tucson Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 2,010 pounds of marijuana, a Chevrolet Suburban, a Ford pick-up, and a Dodge pick-up near Stanfield, Arizona. All three vehicles were found abandoned and a search of the vehicles revealed the marijuana.
Reported on September 11, 2010
Blaine Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico and seized $119,000 near Blaine, Washington. After arresting the subject for illegal entry, a search of his backpack revealed the currency in vacuum-sealed bags.
Marfa Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested a United States Citizen (USC) and seized 0.2 pounds of marijuana, a 2003 Hummer H2, a Sig Sauer P245 handgun, and 14 rounds of ammunition at the traffic checkpoint near Sierra Blanca, Texas. The case was referred to local law enforcement officials.
Reported on September 12, 2010<
Rio Grande Valley Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 1,084 pounds of marijuana near Mission, Texas. The seizure occurred near the Rio Grande River.
Rio Grande Valley Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 1,156 pounds of marijuana, two vehicles, and arrested two USCs near McAllen, Texas.
Tucson Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 1,738 pounds of marijuana near Ajo, Arizona. Agents discovered the abandoned marijuana while tracking a group of suspected illegal aliens.
Tucson Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested a juvenile illegal alien from Mexico and seized 33 pounds of marijuana near Nogales, Arizona. The subject actively resisted arrest and became combative with the agent. The agent subdued the subject and took him into custody without further incident.
Reported on September 13, 2010
Rio Grande Valley Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 2,733 pounds of marijuana, a tractor-trailer, and arrested a USC at the traffic checkpoint near Falfurrias, Texas. The subject presented himself for inspection and a Border Patrol canine alerted to the trailer. A scan using non-intrusive inspection technology revealed anomalies in the trailer and a search revealed the marijuana concealed inside.
El Paso Sector – Border Patrol agents seized $400 in counterfeit currency, four ecstasy pills, recovered a stolen revolver, and arrested two USCs at the traffic checkpoint near Las Cruces, New Mexico. A Border Patrol canine alerted to the vehicle driven by the subjects and a search revealed the drugs, weapon and counterfeit currency. Reported on September 14, 2010</p>
Marfa Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested a USC with a small amount of marijuana at the traffic checkpoint near Sierra Blanca, Texas. Records checks revealed the subject had a lengthy criminal history, including a prior conviction for assault with a deadly weapon in the state of California, and two active arrest warrants for parole violation. The subject was also identified as a member of the Bloods gang.
Reported on September 15, 2010
Tucson Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 2,211 pounds of marijuana near Menengers, Arizona. Agents were tracking a group of suspected illegal aliens when they discovered the abandoned marijuana in backpack bundles near the top of a mountain.
Tucson Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 1,759 pounds of marijuana and a vehicle near Lukeville, Arizona. Agents followed the tracks of a suspected smuggling vehicle. The vehicle was eventually found abandoned after becoming stuck in a wash and the marijuana was discovered inside the vehicle.