Mexican Drug Cartels

1. Mexican Drug Cartels Raymond Liao Chris Liu Leonit Dedushaj

2. Outline 1.1.9 • Introduction-Drug Cartels are violent -Do anything to get their billion of dollars. • 2. Drug Cartels and deaths -More people were killed on the border than the Afghanistan War-Around 40,000 people were killed since 2006. -Most of the deaths happen in towns like Juárez and Tijuana

3. Outline 1.2.0 • 3. Getting Drugs Across The Border-Mule is the person who smuggles the drugs across the borders.-Some might hide the drugs on their body, in their body and an item they transport. -They get the drugs to America by digging tunnels linking from Mexico to Texas.-Catapulting the drugs from Mexico into Arizona-Putting drugs into diapers and hiding them in the car. • 4. What is wrong with drug cartels-Too many deaths are being caused because of drug cartels. -Many people in America use the drugs that are being shipped from Mexico.-Drug cartels make billions of dollars when they don’t deserve them.

4. Outline 1.2.1 • 5. Conclusion-They should put a stop to drug cartels because they cause many problems. -Drug cartels do other crimes like prostitution so they could get more money. -If nothing gets done many countries will have big problems because of drug use.

5. Outline 2.0 • Prohibition Era • The dry movement was led by rural Protestants in both political parties, and was coordinated by the Anti-Saloon League. • The lack of a solid popular consensus for the ban resulted in the growth of vast criminal organizations, including the modern American Mafia, and various other criminal cliques. • Mexican Drug War • - Criminal organizations trade and sell illegal substances • - Criminal organizations rise in power • Both have criminal organizations trading/selling illegal substances. • Drug trafficking for Mexican Drug War and Bootlegging for Prohibition.

6. Outline 3.0 • Deaths involved in the drug war consists of -The Mexican army - Drug cartel army -U.S. citizens -Mexican government officials • Cartels fight each other for power. More violence is among weaker cartels fighting each other off. • Former Mexican president Felipe Calderon has been blamed to drag his country into the drug war. • -blamed for dragging thousands of soldiers into fighting cartels • -death toll has risen over his presidency significantly • Gun control in Mexico is a major factor in the drug war.

8. Outline 3.1 • Solutions that have been brought up -U.S. supply money for the anti-war -legalizing a product (not efficient) -More control on guns in Mexico -Corruption control • -America has to keep track of distribution of drugs since Americans are the consumers • -Should start to destroy the distributors in the US and move up to the crime groups

9. END OF SLIDES. ESSAYS AHEAD.

10. Person 1-Leonit • Drug cartels are a big issue in both America and Mexico. Many people die because of gang wars. They are very violent and will do anything to come across the American border to get the billions of dollars they earn annually. 

11. Person 1-Leonit • Since 2006 40,000 people have died due to drug cartels. More people have died on the Mexican-American border than in the Afghanistan War. Most of the killings occur in eight of Mexico’s thirty-two states. Towns like; Juárez and Tijuana have the most number of deaths. Most of the deaths occur in these areas because they are close to the Mexican-American border. Rival gangs have shootouts and they sometimes kill innocent people instead of the people in the gangs, this happens because each gang tries to steal one another’s drugs, they try to steal it so they could earn more money. Drug cartels are a major supplier of heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana to America. The U.S. State Department found that drug users in America send nineteen to twenty-nine billion dollars to drug cartels in a year. 

12. Person 1-Leonit • There are many ways these Mexican drug cartels get their drugs across the border. They smuggle the drugs in tunnels that link to warehouses from Mexico to California, these tunnels are 1,800 feet long. There are also cases where the drug cartels bribe United States agents to allow the drugs across the borderer between Mexico and Texas. Carrying marijuana in baby diapers and hiding them in the car while crossing the border is another way drug cartels smuggle drugs to America. They also use catapults to launch marijuana over the Arizona border. People that hide drugs while transporting are called mules, they hide drugs on their body, in their body, and in the items they transport. These drug cartels do many things just to get the money they want. JoaquínGuzmánLoera or El Chapo is the one that leads all of these crimes. He is known as the drug lord of the group he heads named Sinaloa Cartel. He has a net worth of one billion dollars because of all the crimes he caused, he was best know and most active in 2003 when his rival was arrested. All he wants is for his workers to bring drugs to America to get his money. 

13. Person 1-Leonit • There are many problems because of drug cartels. The fact that they caused 40,000 deaths in roughly six years is terrible. They are getting paid billions of dollars from the people that use their substances. Calderón, which was the president of Mexico from 2006 to 2012, sent 50,000 soldiers to protect the streets of Mexico, from the 50,000 soldiers 3,000 soldiers have died. 26,000 people are missing because of these drug cartels, and it is possible that most of them are dead. What the drug cartels like to do is tie the innocent people they find on roads, they do this so people crossing by could get scared of them and think that the same thing could happen to them. Drug cartels like to seem like the stronger ones, and want people to get scared of them. This is what makes gang rivals have shootouts to see which gang is capable of more. Innocent people are dying during these shootouts and it should stop.

14. Person 1-Leonit • Many crimes are being caused by these drug cartels. Drug cartels also kidnap women and make them clean for them, cook for them, and endure rape by men. An example of crimes drug cartels cause is the twelve headless bodies tied up together in a street, which occurred on August third. One drug cartel group know as the Los Zetas kidnaps men and tattoo a Z onto their chest and then make them work for them. Unbelievable things are happening on the Mexican-American border, it needs to stop or otherwise it will grow into a bigger problem. Many people are being killed and kidnaped. People in America use the drugs that are smuggled into America. If nothing is done, this problem could make whole countries destruct.

15. Person 2-Raymond • The Mexican Drug War is an ongoing armed conflict between rival drug cartels fighting each other for regional control and against the Mexican government forces. The Prohibition Era was a similar event that took place in the U.S. It was a national ban on the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol. It took place during 1920 until 1933. Both the Mexican Drug War and the Prohibition have criminal organizations distributing banned substances. Drug cartels dominate the illegal drug market controlling 90% of the drugs that enter the US.

16. Person 2-Raymond • The Mexican Drug War is rival drug cartels fighting each other for regional control and against the Mexican government. It started on December 11, 2006 when Operation Michoacán commenced. Many drug cartels operate in Mexico, but the most prominent are the Los Zetas, the Gulf Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel. Coincidentally, the founder of the Gulf Cartel, Juan Nepomuceno Guerra, began smuggling alcohol into the United States during the Prohibition. Once the Prohibition ended he created a criminal syndicate called el cartel de Matamoros. Drug cartels illegally earn billions of dollars each year!

17. Person 2-Raymond • The Prohibition Era was a period of time where all alcohol was banned in the United States. The lack of a solid popular consensus for the ban resulted in the growth of vast criminal organizations, including the modern American Mafia, and various other criminal cliques. So much people broke the law that corruption was common among politicians and the police force. This era contributed to the rise of criminal organizations in the US. The American Temperance Societystarted the first movement against alcohol in 1826. It let to the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, which surprised people as it was supposed to decrease crime. The Prohibition ended on March 22,1933 when President FDR signed the Cullen-Harrison Act, legalizing alcohol content of 3.2% by weight and the wine of similarly low alcohol content. On December 5,1933 the Twenty-First Amendment was ratified which in turn repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, which established the banning of alcoholic beverages in the US.

18. Person 2-Raymond • The Mexican Drug War and the Prohibition Era had many similarities. Both had criminal organizations distributing illegal substances. Speakeasies in the Prohibition Era acted like the modern day smuggling tunnels. Speakeasies were illegal bars that were specifically designed for illicit bootlegging activities and the smuggling tunnels were specifically dug to transfer drugs into the US. During both the Prohibition and the Mexican Drug War, there were many killings. On August of 2012, 7 family members, including three children under 10 were found dead in the home. The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre is like this incident as well as many others. At the massacre 7 mob associates were murdered. The Prohibition and the Mexican Drug War are so closely related in terms of what has happened as well as what the gangs do.

19. Person 2-Raymond • The Prohibition Era and the Mexican Drug War are so closely related. Both of them have rival crime organization fighting and doing illegal activities. The American Mafia had bootlegging and the drug cartels have production of illegal drugs and drug trafficking. Both events had thousands of innocent people killed just for the crime organizations to get money. During the Prohibition if alcohol was legal, the Mafia would never had rose in power. In Mexico, legalizing marijuana and cocaine would mean stores can sell it and cause drug cartels to be out of business. As I quote George Santayana, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.“, the Mexican Drug War is just about the same as the Prohibition. If we could end that, we can end this.

20. Person 3-Chris • The Mexican drug Cartel War has haunted the United States and Mexico. It has been estimated that since 2006, 47,000 people have been killed by being involved with the drug cartels. Originally the dispute involved Mexico’s army against the drug cartel’s army. Over 100,000 soldiers were hired for the drug cartels. The drug cartels have been a heavy influence in Mexico’s government. They have gained a reputation to influence Mexico’s affairs. The cartels have gained power by expanding its organization into the U.S. Their products have been distributed into America and sold throughout the entire country. So far the cartels have only been known to be violent, and solutions to this problem have been scarce.

21. Person 3-Chris • The drug war rages on in many aspects. One would be drug cartels fighting among each other. There are also the shootings involving the innocent and political officers. Gang rivalry usually leads to weakening both of the gangs. When that occurs, another gang steps in and cleans up, causing even more havoc. Police officers and military soldiers are prone to falling victim of the drug war. Seizing and busting drug cartels is a dangerous job. Many people believe that former Mexican president Felipe Calderon was responsible for the deaths of the Mexicans. He had set up laws to reinforce soldiers to fight off the drug cartels. At least 40,000 bodies have been identified while another 16,000 bodies have remained unidentified. Innocent lives have been caught out in the crossfire. Gun smuggling is what needs to be tackled first in Mexico. Obtaining arms is what keeps the cartels strong at power. Already there have been seizures of ammunition of vast amounts, but what has been claimed is only a fraction. One of the largest seizes was of 500,000 various weapons including rifles, grenades, tear gas and ammunition. Cleaning up the weapons problem will be the first step into a greater cause.

22. Person 3-Chris • The distribution of drugs into America is what supplies the cartels with income. Currently the major illicit drugs sold into the United States are marijuana, cocaine and heroin. In 2007 the wholesale price of cocaine went from $2,198 per kilogram in Mexico, and from there rose to $97,400 per kilogram in the United States. Studies have shown that if the U.S. were to legalize marijuana, it would cut 30% of the cartel profit. It has been estimated that 30 billion dollars is made annually in a year from sales! Yet this isn’t enough to take down the drug cartels. Starting in America, the distributors of the drugs have to be taken down. Once taking them out, it will be harder for citizens in America to buy the drugs. The demand will always be there, and if there is a chance to sell, cartels will sell and even at a higher price. Working up towards the stronger parts of the cartel will be the next step in shutting them down. All of this won’t happen overnight but will take years and years to come.

23. Person 3-Chris • One vital problem that must be solved is corruption. Corruption is alive within the government and police. The cartels have been known to pay off many of them to let the cartels do their business. Mexico only deploys their army and marines to deal with the war since so many police are corrupted. It has been stated that police have been paid $100,000,000 a month in bribes. Police forces have been identified of mutiny. Many have been convicted for the crimes of helping free drug members in order to gain money on their end. Some have even killed their own local mayors just because they are paid much more. It is a terrible situation where the government has corruption within it. Cartels have used intimidation to control the system. Many regions in Mexico have been prone to be corrupted only because of cartel power and influence. It is only a matter of time before corruption overrides Mexico completely.

24. Person 3-Chris • To bring the drug war to an end, many steps have to be taken. America must work on its own end and rid the country of distributors and any remaining drug gangs. To rid the drug distribution, it would cut income towards the cartels. Many politicians have hovered over legalizing marijuana to help the cause. What also must be done is to track firearms in the United States. Many firearms seized in Mexico have origins traced back to the United States. Mexico must secure its own country from the hands of the cartels. Too much corruption and power has been given. So far the military has been doing its job well, but too many of the innocent have been caught in the crossfire. If the military can step up their game and hunt the corrupted down, then they will gain their dominance back. These issues aren’t meant to be solved in a flash. Though, it is possible to bring this war to an end with perseverance and patience in time.