Mexico Drug Trafficking
The process of smuggling drugs out
of one country and into another is something that I could never quite wrap my
head around. Especially in this day and age with technology and security being
such prominent factors in our everyday lives, it surprises me that smuggling is
still even possible. We have all heard crazy stories or have seen the unbelievable
documentaries on drug smuggling. You know, the ones where corrupt people fill
corpses with drugs or somehow mold cocaine into plastic to get past border
control. It just seems like people have thought of everything. This map, from
just 5 years ago, shows however, that apparently smugglers have continued to
find ways to do their jobs.
I have chosen this first map of
drug routes from Mexico because I see it directly relating to what we have read
so far in It Came from Del Rio where Dodd is smuggling what we are to believe
are ‘moon rocks’ from Texas to Mexico. Del Rio is located right along the
border of Mexico, in the hook of Texas, above Laredo. In the map, the part of Mexico
he would be going into is part of the Gulf cartel and becomes an area in
dispute. I see it more important to notice the gray arrow along this region
showing that this is an area known for all kinds of drug trafficking. We are
unsure of what Dodd is actually transporting and this map is showing us that in
this area, the possibilities are endless. Maybe it is cocaine or heroin, or
maybe it really is rocks from the moon that fill the canisters in the case. Either
way this is a real place where people are known to go through what Dodd is
going through in order to traffic a number of things.
But How? This is still the question
constantly ringing in my head. Are people
really so clever to come up with ways to slip past the border control unnoticed
on a regular basis? Or is it that the border control is so corrupt and willing
to join the side of the criminals for a cut? If there is anything that the Devil’s Highway
or even just the beginning of It Came from Del Rio has taught us, it is that
the latter seems to be more accurate. So in my head I could never picture smuggling
to be as big of a market as it is because I couldn’t imagine there being so
many corrupt border cops and people willing to do things like Dodd. The second
map I have chosen, from 2011, has showed me otherwise. It is showing just 2
months of ‘drug killings’ in Mexico. These high numbers shocked me. Not just
because of how many people died, but because they are just a fraction of people
in this occupation. These maps really just opened my eyes to the danger and
reality that is drug trafficking and made me excited to continue reading on
about Dodd’s journey.
http://justiceinmexico.org/data-portal/maps/
I can’t say that I am necessarily surprised that there is still so much drug trafficking from Mexico into the United States, but this makes me think of all the people here in America who create the demand for so much trafficking. You talk about how these traffickers must keep coming up with new inventive ways to get the drugs over the border, but the thing is that as long as the demand is present there will always be people ready to come up with a way to be the person who provides the supply. The sad fact is that there are so many people who just live for their next fix. The map of the Drug Killings in Mexico form only 2 months of data was extremely shocking to me, but it makes me wonder what the data for the United States would be over a two month span, I have a feeling that it would be equally if not more shocking, but I guess there is no way to know right now. People in these rings must understand the risk they are taking but they feel the reward (profit) is worth the chance of death.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Christina that it would be very interesting to map the drug killings along the border in the United States and observe if there is a parallel effect and distribution. I believe that there will be based on the readings we have done with class, specifically The Devil's Highway, that indicate the harsh lifestyle of people living along the border in the U.S. as well as Mexico. This map leads me to think of how in cities around the coutnry there are areas of higher durg use and selling. So, in my thought, does this mean the the U.S. is any different from Mexico in the aspect of drug use and killings. The same stuff happens in our very own cities yet we tend to ignore or disregard that and only focus on other people doing those illegal deeds. It is interesting to see the double standard we sometimes create.
ReplyDeleteThe high "drug killing" statistics are quite alarming. Although over the years border patrol has become even more intense, the amount of crime and murder appears to have remained the same. This raises the popular question of legalizing drugs in the United States. Would legalizing drugs diminish the crime that is so frequent on the US/Mexico border? It is interesting to consider the possible shifts that could occur in America if drugs were completely legalized. It may be worth it to do so if it meant that the border violence would decrease. However, would the legality of drugs create more social problems within the United States as so many fear? It is an interesting trade off to consider. No one can predict what the outcome of legalizing drugs would be, but would it may well be worth it if border killings would cease as a result. It is not definite that drug use would rise as a result of legalization, so maybe the debate of legalizing drugs should be considered.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, these two cartography maps illustrate the problems in Mexico and how the US-Mexico border seems to harbor many of these controversies. From the first map, it's important to note how much illegal activity is going on in Mexico. Not only are there vast quantities of drugs coming through the country, but there are many drug cartels sending these drugs across the border into the United States. From the second map, you can see how a majority of drug killings happen on or very close to the US-Mexico border. These drug cartels seem to be causing many problems not only for Mexico, but for the United States too.
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