Mexican Drug War

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Mexican NSC Drug War

Troops after a shootout in Apatzingan, Michoacán.

Date	December 11, 2006^[1] – ongoing
Location	Mexican states of Baja California, Guerrero, Chihuahua, Michoacán, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, and Sinaloa
Status	Ongoing

Belligerents

Mexico
Supported by:

United States^[2]

Sinaloa Cartel

Gulf Cartel

Commanders

Felipe Calderón

Sergio Aponte^[3]

Joaquín Guzmán^[4]

Alfredo Beltrán Leyva ^[5]

Carlos Landin Martinez^[6]

Strength

25,000+^[7]

300,000+

Casualties and losses

Over 4,100 killed^[8]

The Mexican Drug War is an armed conflict taking place between rival drug cartels and government forces in Mexico.

The cartels are reportedly using machine guns, bazookas, and a variety of other military-grade arms as weapons. U.S. and Mexican authorities say that Mexico is the main supply route for cocaine and other illegal drugs entering the United States and that Colombia is where most of the plants used to produce illegal drugs are grown before shipment to the US via Mexico and Central America.^[9]

1 Progress & escalation
2 Effects
3 United States involvement
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Progress & escalation

This war is similar to the Conflict in Colombia involving drug cartels and the government. The cartels in Mexico are allegedly linked to the cartels in Colombia. The fighting between rival drug cartels began in earnest after the 1989 arrest of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo who ran the cocaine business in Mexico.^[10] There was a lull in the fighting during the late 1990s but the violence has steadily worsened since 2000. Former president Vicente Fox sent small numbers of troops to Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, on the US-Mexico border to fight the cartels with little success. It is estimated that about 110 people died in Nuevo Laredo alone during the January-August 2005 period as a result of the fighting between the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels.^[11] In 2005 there was a surge in violence as a drug cartel tried to establish itself in Michoacán. Although violence between drug cartels has been occurring long before the war began, the government held a generally passive stance regarding cartel violence in the 1990s and early 2000s. That changed on December 11, 2006, when newly elected President Felipe Calderón sent 6,500 federal troops to the state of Michoacán to put an end to drug violence there. This action is regarded as the first major retaliation made against the cartel violence, and is generally viewed as the starting point of the war between the government and the drug cartels.^[12] As time progressed, Calderón continued to escalate his anti-drug campaign, in which there are now well over 25,000 troops involved.

In April 2008, Gen. Sergio Aponte, the man in charge of the anti-drug campaign in the state of Baja California, made a number of allegations of corruption against the police forces in the region. Among his allegations, Aponte stated that he believed Baja California's anti-kidnapping squad was actually a kidnapping team working in conjunction with organized crime, and that bribed police units were being used as bodyguards for drug traffickers.^[13] These accusations of corruption suggested that the progress against drug cartels in Mexico have been hindered by bribery and military corruption.

On April 26, 2008, a major battle took place between members of the Arellano F'wlix and Sinaloa cartels in the city of Tijuana, Baja California, that left 17 people dead.^[14] The rival cartels were shooting at one another with not only handguns, but automatic weapons such as AK-47s and AR-15s as well.^[15] This fact reinforces the notion that gang members are purchasing weapons in the United States^[16] or are being funded from elsewhere. The battle also brings about concern about the violence spilling into the United States, as Tijuana and a number of other border cities become hotspots for violence in the war.

[edit] Effects

The states where most of the conflict takes place, marked in red.

Many people in Mexico have suffered the violence of the conflict although, the conflict is not present in all the country. The states that suffer the conflict mostly are Baja California, Guerrero, Chihuahua, Michoacán, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, and Sinaloa (highlighted red on image right). President Calderón's government is currently fighting the drug-dealers especially in his home state of Michoacán, but there are more operations going on in the states of Jalisco and Guerrero.

On December 24, 2006, the governor of Baja California Eugenio Elorduy announced a similar operation in his state with cooperation of state and federal governments. This operation started in late December 2006 in the border city of Tijuana. As of early 2007, these operations extended to the states of Guerrero, and the so called "Golden Triangle States": Chihuahua, Durango, and Sinaloa. In February 2007, the federal government extended these operations to two more states: Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. In response to these operations, organized crime tried to assassinate the federal deputy representing Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.

As of early October 2007, the war appears to have had an effect on the drugs trade in the United States. In 37 states the price of cocaine has gone up by as much as 50%, while the average purity has dropped by 11%. ^[17]

On February 11, 2008, it was reported that already over 250 ^[18] people had died in the year of 2008 as a result of the two major drug cartels, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Gulf Cartel, fight against one another for territory, and against the Mexican military. By April 2008, this number had spiked up to 900 people killed in 2008.^[19]

[edit] United States involvement

Ever since the war began, President Calderón has continually appealed to the United States for support. He is quoted as saying "I think the American government must do its part in this terrible battle"^[20] and has made several appeals to U.S. President George W. Bush directly for aid against the drug cartels.

On October 22, 2007, Bush pledged US$1.4 billion in funding to Mexico to aid in the drug war. Additionally, it was agreed that the United States would supply Mexico with logistical assistance and equipment, training for its military and police forces, a number of U.S. Military helicopters, and X-ray machines.^[21]. However, the assistance package did not include any U.S. troops, and direct military involvement is largely opposed by the citizenry of both nations.