Drug War: Reaching Far

In the US drug trade, Mexico serves as "transport ground" for cocaine, as well as the source for marijuana and heroin. The cartels control the drug trade, and there is evidence that they also have infiltrated the government. The federal government has tried to put a stop to this.
 Since 2006, the Mexican government declared its own war on drugs, and president Felipe Calderón sent 6500 troops to shut down cartel violence in Michoacán. Clearly, that action bred more violence from the cartels. The victims of this "surge" in the Mexican Drug war are mostly the Mexican citizens. The number of deaths as a result of violence between cartels and the army has increased steadily each year. The total is estimated to be at 26,000 people. Twenty-six thousand people, of which about 11,000 were killed in 2010, after yet another US-backed escalation - US provided 1.6 billion dollars to the Mexican government to fight the war over several years (465 million in 2008).
Although this Drug War has decreased the amount of cocaine smuggled in the US (measured by declining purity and rising price) because of higher numbers of seizures, safety of the Mexican people has dropped significantly. Not only are they caught in battles between the army and the cartels in the streets, but the cartels themselves can be extremely brutal to the people. They have executed people in the streets, thrown grenades into a crowded plaza, and gunned down US consulates. The cartels also recruit Mexican citizens, promising better salary than the police and the army. CNN reports that the situation is getting worse still. If that isn't bad news enough, the most brutal cartel may have been trained by US.
Did the US knowingly train a future drug cartel or did they not have an ulterior motive? Considering the CIA's previous actions, the former seems more likely.

Mexico is not the only country plagues by this type of war. Boston.com has stunning pictures of the drug war in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil that will remind you of City of God.

Of course, there is more to learn still. The following documentaries do for an excellent evening viewing:

The documentary The Last White Hope tells the story of the US War on Drugs and the CIA's involvement in the LA cocaine trade. This documentary includes famous "Highway" Ricky Ross, the biggest crack distributor in Los Angeles in the 1980's. It also shows who can gain the most from the drug war, why the sentences are kept so high for non-violent offenders, and what tactics the police use to catch these offenders.



The Union: Business Behind Getting High is another very well done documentary that examines the money flow of the marijuana trade. It shows the profitability of "Grow ops" and why, despite such stringent laws, people undertake such operations. The documentary also examines the path the drugs take once they enter the US, south to the coast and back to Canada.