Mexico’s Drug Trafficking Organizations: Source and Scope of the Rising Violence

This is a detailed 30 page report made by the Congressional Research Service which was prepared for members and committees of Congress, dated January 7, 2011 by June S. Beittel, an analyst in Latin American Affairs.

From the summary:

"In Mexico, the violence generated by drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) in recent years has
been, according to some, unprecedented. In 2006, Mexico’s newly elected President Felipe
Calderón launched an aggressive campaign—an initiative that has defined his administration—
against the DTOs that has been met with a violent response from the DTOs. Government
enforcement efforts have had successes in removing some of the key leaders in all of the seven
major DTOs. However, these efforts have led to violent succession struggles within the DTOs
themselves. In July 2010, the Mexican government announced that more than 28,000 people had
been killed in drug trafficking-related violence since December 2006, when President Calderón
came to office."

"Although violence has been an inherent feature of the trade in illicit drugs, the character of the
drug trafficking-related violence in Mexico seems to have changed recently, now exhibiting
increasing brutality. In the first 10 months of 2010, an alarming number of Mexican public
servants have been killed, allegedly by the DTOs, including 12 Mexican mayors and in July, a
gubernatorial candidate. The massacres of young people and migrants, the killing and
disappearance of Mexican journalists, the use of torture, and the phenomena of car bombs have
received wide media coverage and have led some analysts to question if the violence has been
transformed into something new, beyond the typical violence that has characterized the trade. For
instance, some observers have raised the concern that the Mexican DTOs may be acting more like
domestic terrorists. Others maintain that the DTOs are transnational organized crime
organizations at times using terrorist tactics. Still others believe the DTOs may be similar to
insurgents attempting to infiltrate the Mexican state by penetrating the government and police."

"This report provides background on drug trafficking in Mexico, identifies the major drug
trafficking organizations operating today, and analyzes the context, scope, and scale of the
violence. It examines current trends of the violence, analyzes prospects for curbing violence in
the future, and compares it with violence in Colombia."


And from the introduction:

"The rapid increase in brutal drug trafficking-related violence in Mexico—beheadings, killing of
innocent bystanders including young people and children, car bombs, torture, and assassination of
numerous government officials—has drawn the attention of U.S. lawmakers. As 2010 progressed,
the violence spread and became more brazen. Several political assassinations took place before
and after the July municipal and state elections. On June 28, 2010, Tamaulipas gubernatorial
candidate Rodolfo Torre Cantú of the PRI party was killed, the highest level political assassination in 15 years, allegedly by the drug trafficking organizations (DTOs).1 Over the next three months, several sitting mayors were executed (a total of 12 between January and the end of October). Little is known about the rationale for these homicides. One interpretation is that some of these mayors were refusing to cooperate with the DTOs. However, they could also be victims of inter-DTO rivalries."

"There have also been alarming, highly publicized attacks on drug rehabilitation centers, private
parties (often with teenagers killed), and a steady attack on Mexico’s journalists, inspiring the
leading newspaper in Ciudad Juárez to seek a truce with the DTOs it identified as the “de facto
authorities” in the city.2 In late August 2010, 72 Central and South American migrants passing
through Mexico were found massacred in Tamaulipas. According to a survivor, Los Zetas—one
of Mexico’s most violent DTOs—attempted to recruit the migrants to assist in moving drugs and
killed them when they refused. The Zetas are reported to be significantly involved in human
smuggling."

To read this report in detail go here:

assets.opencrs.com...

It's not just in Mexico.



Mexican drug cartels are now the main suppliers in at least 230 U.S. cities.

reply to post by Night Star


Thanks for that youtube.com video. Very interesting.

And it's not just drugs....
From the report in my OP:


"Mexican DTOs have also become poly-criminal organizations engaging in a wide variety of
criminal activities in addition to selling illegal drugs. They have branched into other profitable
crimes such as kidnapping, assassination for hire, auto theft, prostitution, extortion, moneylaundering, and human smuggling. The surge in violence due to inter- and intra-cartel conflict
over lucrative drug smuggling routes has been accompanied by an increase in kidnapping for
ransom and other crimes.27 While some believe this branching into other criminal activities is
evidence of organizational vitality and growth, others believe this diversification is a sign that
U.S. and Mexican drug enforcement measures are suppressing drug trafficking profits."