In Mexico's drug wars, fears of a U.S. front

Violence that has killed thousands is beginning to cross border, officials say.
Alex Johnson, MSNBC
9 March 2009
Article URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29516551/

I really wonder if this story is the start of a brand new discussion thread in the wide expanse of the theme regarding Mexican cartel-related violence, but also one that marks the shift in the narrative from just being confined as an issue south of the border to one that is beginning to take root in mainstream US society.

A 25 Feb 2009 news release from the US Drug Enforcement Agency about Operation Xcellerator, which is one of the anchors of this MSNBC story, talks about the culmination of a successful 21-month operation between anti-narcotics and law enforcement units in Mexico, U.S. and Canada that landed a crushing blow to the Sinola Cartel by snagging some 750 individuals on drug charges and seized some 23 tons of dope. But equally eye-catching is the paragraph third from bottom of the news release, which hints at the breath of the cartel's operations in the country: from California in the west to Minnesota in the north and Maryland in the east.

In fact, Alex Johnson's story talks about how Mexican cartels have come to be rooted in a staggering 230 cities across the U.S., and flooding its markets with a buffet spread of both designer and organic drugs. This has led the US Justice Department's National Drug Intelligence Center to list the Mexican cartels as one of the greatest urban threats to American safety and security. As President Felipe Calderón continues to wage war against the cartels in Mexico, are the drug organizations shifting their main operations to the States? One must question how this will affect the ongoing state of violence in so many of the Mexican border towns.

Johnson's article makes one thing unequivocally clear: that the drug problem is not just a Mexican issue but one that is inexorably linked to the well-being of the U.S. too. His story, in my opinion, provides readers with a broad perspective of the complexities of the drug trade that is funneling into the States across the border (involving even states as far up as Alaska and as far out as Hawaii, among others), who the main players are in the ongoing cartel feuds, and also provides a look into the deep price that Mexican forces are paying in order to rein in the cartels on their end. Johnson's overall slant is understandably somewhat alarmist, given the talk about Mexico potentially becoming a failed state and how officials in Texas and Arizona are crying out for the infusion of thousands of federal troops to patrol the borders.

Nevertheless, one matter that I think Johnson could have addressed more clearly is how drug demand in the States is fuel for the fire in Mexico (a fire that is now spreading northwards). I thought he gingerly touched on this early on in the story - 8th paragraph from the top - but failed to pin the issue down with any clarity. In failing to do so, he may have inadvertently perpetuated the perception of the drug issue as a 'fault' of the Mexicans instead of showing it up for the complex situation that it is. So, read this story with some perspective, and make your own judgments!