Mexico’s Other Export

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Mexico has a major export that never gets discussed in free-trade agreements. “There has been an alarming spike in violence in Mexico in recent years, most of which is associated with the trafficking in illegal drugs and the efforts of the Mexican government to shut down that trade,” Ted Galen Carpenter writes in a recent CATO Institute Policy Analysis titled “Troubled Neighbor: Mexico’s Drug Violence Poses a Threat to the United States.” He continues, “The turf battles have been ferocious. In 2005, more than 1,300 people perished in drug-related violence. By 2007, the yearly total had soared to 2,673. And it continues to get worse. By early August 2008, the body count for that year already exceeded the number of fatalities in all of 2007. By mid-November, some estimates put the toll at more than 4,500.” He goes on to say, “Worst of all, the carnage associated with the black market trade in drugs does not respect national boundaries. The frightening violence now convulsing Mexico could become a routine feature of life in American communities, as the cartels begin to flex their muscles north of the border.”

“Even if it were possible to seal the land border, the trafficking organizations have ingenious ways of coping,” Carpenter argues. He mentions underground tunnels that have been found before, and he also points out “the lengthy coastline in the Gulf of Mexico or along the California coast.” “Decapitation strategies don’t work” in these cartels, Carpenter asserts, because there is a major “problem of corruption” in the law enforcement force, and the “robust consumer demand makes victory impossible.”

“The global trade in illegal drugs is a vast, extremely lucrative enterprise, estimated at $320 billion a year, with Mexico’s share of that trade generally thought to be about $25-35 billion.” Carpenter argues that “since the illegality of the trade creates a huge black market premium (depending on the drug, 90% or more of the retail price), the potential profits to drug trafficking organizations are huge.”

Heather Latham is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.