The towns involved - South Gate, Maywood, Huntington Park, Bell Gardens - are all now at least 75 - 85% "hispanic". Which is to say, Mexican. What you are seeing there is, in fact, what Mexico is like. Period. If it wasn't drugs, it would be access to government, access to jobs, everything.
Almost nothing happens in Mexico without patronage extortion: it's expected. It's the norm. It's the way the society operates...if you can call it operable.
This is what the Southwestern United States is turning into. As the immigration laws are not enforced, as official multiculturalism forbids honest discussion of it, as criminal Mexican officials seize illegitimate power in the U.S. (they even have the mayor of Los Angeles, and yes kiddies, you can bet he's up to his undershorts in this), this is what will happen to the once great American Southwest: it will become a sinister, ugly and terrifying pit run by seedy murderers from Guess Where. And they will always be painted as being poor and oppressed, forced to do these terrible things because the Evil Gringos were mean to them.
All of which is bunk. These places were empty dirt a century and a half ago when the gringos arrived and turned them into the places they used to be - decent middle and working class neighborhoods and towns. Then the overflow from the Nightmare Next Door showed up, and this is the result.
My grandmother always told me not to get down in the dirt with the dogs, otherwise you will get up with fleas and dirty too!
Sounds as though we need more old fashioned, ENGLISH SPEAKING grandmothers!
And .. our tax dollars feed them, clothe them, pay for their medical care and they continue to turn out more and more children who will not speak english and the cycle continues.
This is what happens when you have no stomach to demand assimilation; learning the language of the country; and also demanding that people enter the country the right way.
Actually, no one (esp. MSM) wants to admit it, but you are absolutely right. The Mexican culture is rampant with extortion and it is part and parcel of the culture. This "culture" will infiltrate the U.S., particularly, the Southwest, and it will erode the economies which it touches.
The U.S. thrives because it's system is based on a sound premise of laws and enforcement. The American culture enables businesses to succeed and economies to thrive because of its stand against corruption. A corrupt society does not produce a successful economy or a stable environment, period.
Yes, vist Oxnard out in the fresh country air of whitebread Ventura County, 60 or so miles west of downtown L.A. It was the home base of the late union boss Cesar Chavez who hailed from its Colonia. Learn about La Colonia Chiques, a murderous gang that gives the impression of "protesting" Gringo oppression while its members kill their own and innocent bystanders in turf battles. The town grew enormously during WWII from the influx of U.S. Navy Seabees who are headquartered at nearby Port Hueneme.
The town has worked hard to improve its image over the past few years. Maybe I'm a little paranoid but the hairs on the back of my neck twitch a little when I have to drive in the city, especially anytime after dark. Here's why (be prepared for very bad language and a trip into a world unknown to most non-Hispanics): Chiques If you visit I recommend against wearing anything that suggests Dallas Cowboys colors attire. The team has or had its pre-season camp in Oxnard and the Chiques have adopted the team's logo and colors. "Unauthorized" wearing of Cowboys' colors has resulted in murder.