Drug Violence Wreaks Havoc in Mexico

The U.S. government is voicing concern about the cartel chaos south of the border, and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said helping the Mexican government fight the drug cartels is a top priority that demands the utmost attention, the Washington Post reported.

In an interview with the NewsHour, Napolitano said that the U.S. is helping Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s effort to fight the cartels as much as possible. 
 
“This is a courageous battle that is being fought in Mexico now. And what President Calderon is doing is taking on these big cartels who are very large and flush with cash and very powerful in their own right,” Napolitano said.

The former U.S. drug czar, retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, told a Washington press conference: “Mexico is on the edge of the abyss — it could become a narco state in the coming decade.”

And former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich told ABC News: “It is grossly undercovered by the American media. … The illegal narcotics teams in Mexico are in a direct civil war with the government in which they are killing the police, killing judges, killing the army."

Killings of police and rival drug cartel members have been a problem in Mexico for years, but with 6,000 murders related to drug trafficking last year, governments on both sides of the border are desperate to stop the violence. 

Spilling into America

	As the new Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, is responsible for enforcing immigration and drug laws along the U.S.-Mexico border.

U.S. officials are concerned that as drug traffickers bring cocaine and marijuana into the country via border states like California, Texas and Arizona, the violence is seeping into American cities and towns. 
 
Federal and local authorities have reported a spike in drug-related murders and kidnappings in unexpected places like Atlanta, Georgia and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

In Phoenix last year, armed men burst into a home and sprayed it with bullets, killing one man.  Authorities say the attack was committed by drug gang members.

"The violence follows the drugs," said David Cuthbertson, agent in charge of the FBI's office in the border city of El Paso, Texas, the Associated Press reported. 
 
Officials say that drug cartels will kill or punish members of their organizations who owe money. Cities that are drug distribution centers see more drug-related crime as cartel members use violence to keep their organization in check. 
 
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has asked for 1,000 more border guards for his state while Washington has sent millions of dollars to local governments to increase law enforcement. 

Drug economy

	Texas Border Patrol found 5,000 pounds of marijuana worth $28 million in 2007, a small portion of the billions of dollars in drugs that Americans buy from Mexican cartels each year.

Drug traffickers need customers and money to sustain themselves, and America provides both.

The Associated Press reported that Americans sell 95 percent of the weapons used by the cartels and send an estimated $28.5 billion to Mexico in exchange for drugs each year.

Cocaine, a powerful and illegal narcotic largely produced in South America, is one of the drugs shipped through Mexico to the United States.

Mexican President Calderone has even blamed corrupt U.S. officials for fueling the flow of drugs from Mexico to America.

"The main cause of the problems associated with organized crime is having the world's biggest consumer next to us," Calderon told Agence France-Presse.

Government under siege

	Mexican government officials are expected to increase the military presence in Ciudad Juarez to help restore order to the city.

In Mexico, powerful drug organizations threaten the rule of law by intimidating police and politicians with dramatic killings and threats.

Mexico City's La Prensa newspaper ran a front page last month that had a banner headline that simply said "Hysteria!" over photos of bloody bodies and grim-faced soldiers.

Cities directly on the U.S. border are particularly violent. In Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, the police chief quit after drug gangs said they would kill a police officer every two days until he resigned.

Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said he was sending 1,500 federal troops to keep control. 

"In areas where drug traffickers have a lot of influence, sadly there is a risk that they will have an interest in influencing the formation of public power, particularly the local authority. This is something that concerns us," he said.