Drug abuse in the United States is at an all-time high, from marijuana to methamphetamines, addicts are becoming increasingly common due to drug trafficking from Mexico. In fact: “The U.S. has the highest level of illegal drug use in the world” (U.S. Efforts). The number of drugs coming from South America to North America is increasing daily and the United States government needs to institute more operations regarding the security of imports and the border in general. Mexican and South American drug organizations are easily moving their products into the United States and it is causing more issues then drug addicts themselves. A handful of researchers argue that the addicts of America are leading to the increase in illegal imports and recent reports show that in areas with rising addicts, drug distribution has heightened. Countless deaths that were ultimately not drug related have occurred and will continue to occur unless Mexican and American governments take the exportation and importation of drugs more seriously. Mexico is one of the most governmentally corrupt countries in the world and this has lead them to being the biggest culprit for global drug exportation. This is directly harmful not only for the drug addicts whose lives are in danger, but also the larger population of both Mexican and American citizens. The flow of illegal drugs into the United States needs to be controlled more efficiently, sincethe regulations and organizations that are currently in place are only focused on a smaller portion of the issue. The United States needs to consider alternative action immediately, specifically considering the abuse of power on behalf of Drug Trafficking Organizations, the inefficiency of the War on Drugs, and the amount of lives lost through illegal drug trafficking.

The Mexican Drug Traffic Organizations or DTO’s control most, if not all the American drug market andproduction and are gaining ground in other parts of the world. One of the many reasons that these organizations are so successful is because the drugs are remarkably addicting. The narcotics are being processed in a way that makes adding ingredients to make them more addictive effortless. This causes the addict to rely on them even more and keeps them buying up the illegal drugs. The DTO’s do not care about the users health as long as the cash flow continues. It is so uncomplicated for the DTO’s to get drugs into America that: “The street price of marijuana and powder cocaine in the United States is about half the price in Western Europe” (Winslow). The narcotics are steadily entering the United States and this allows the price to drop and thus creates more addicts. The minimal prices also make the drugs available to lower class people, who have been more known to be drug abusers. The United States major cities are most vulnerable and law enforcement reports indicate that drugs from Mexico are being: “Supplied to over 230 major United States cities” (CFR). The drugs that are infiltrating these cities are life threatening for the user and may lead to ongoing issues. Addicts are suffering from the availability and affordability of these drugs and there is not enough drug education in early adolescent years, especially within poverty stricken high-population cities. 

In 1973, President Richard Nixon initiated the Drug Enforcement Agency or DEA to: “Combat an all-out global war on the drug menace" (Walser). Now more than ever the DEA is trying to protect United States citizens from Mexican DTO’s and the drugs they continue to produce. The DEA and other United States forces are hard at work trying to put an end to the drug war that continues to spill into America. Now that the Mexican cartels are becoming wealthy, organizing drug related assassinations, kidnappings, and other crimes is manageable. The DTO’s will do anything to have the upper hand, especially by finding ways around security and border patrol, or even holding valuable Mexican politician’s hostage. The trafficking routes are lucrative and ever changing, thus increasing the difficulty in catching the DTO’s in the act. The hardest part is that the United States knows that the drugs are coming from Mexico but the DEA and other agencies are having a difficult time slowing down the illegal imports. The Drug Enforcement Agency has been working hard to put drug lords and key drug trafficking individuals behind bars. It is the one of the few ways to slow them down and hinder their trafficking abilities. However, when one drug leader goes down, another one steps up and takes their place, increasing the difficulty to put a complete end to it; the DTO’s are orderly and more intelligent than average citizens think. The drug trade leaders are the key figures in determining when and where the trafficking will occur. If the captured leaders are willing to cooperate, it can occasionally lead to finding the source of drugs and conclusively shutting down their operation, especially since the leaders are responsible for when and where the drugs are produced and reallocated. 

Another issue that Mexico is facing is that the drug lords are garnering such high income that it is easy for them to import weapons from the United States and from other foreign weapons dealers. With this excess money, they can now “protect their investment,” and with their profits they have plenty of money to spare for weapons: “Mexican drug cartels take in between $19 and $29 billion annually from U.S. drug sales” (Winslow). If the DTO’s were not so heavily armed it would be a simpler process to shut them down, but they want the weapons to protect their property and to hide their illegal activity. The United States is the world’s largest dealer of weapons; ranging from pistols to grenade launchers, however too often these weapons are falling into the hands of Mexican drug lords without notice. This is leading to a steady rise in violence within Mexico, causing frustration within the Mexican government. 

It seems that every day the media is reporting on a drug related murder, whether it is an agency officer, a Mexican police officer, or even an everyday citizen. Jose Veiras states: “More than 60,000 people have been killed in DTO-related violence, and more than 26,000 have gone missing” (Veiras). The drug organization leaders and the people on their payroll do not care who steps in their way and will not hesitate to pull the trigger. In their eyes, they are running a business and need to make sure they are receiving a steady income. The everyday citizens of Mexico want nothing to do with these DTO’s and in certain cities they are constantly at risk. There are many unsafe areas in Mexico where the powerful DTO’s have virtually taken over, those places include the: “Golden triangle: Chihuahua, Durango, and Sinaloa” (Veiras). In some parts of Mexico organized crime is considered normal behavior; being a part of a drug-trafficking organization is not uncommon.  

Drug trafficking is not something that has recently become an issue, for over three decades the United States and Mexico’s governments have been fighting the war on drugs. At the height of the drug trade the numbers were shocking: : “Per the accountant of Colombia’s Medellín drug mob, the group was trafficking: 15 tons of cocaine into America every day in the 1980s. Thirty years later, the figures are still staggering” (Bagley). These numbers may seem outlandish, however drug abuse since the 80s has been on a steady rise and everyday Americans are at risk of drug addiction. Despite United States efforts and addresses to the war on drugs these statistics exemplify the fact that the way the drug problem is being handled is not effective. United States citizens have spent millions of dollars on illegal drugs, causing Mexican DTO production and income to increase. 

Mexico is currently in the middle of a civil war, the government and the criminal bands of narcotic traffickers are fighting for power and certain areas of the country are chaotic. The drug cartels themselves are a major factor of the war, they fight to control trade routes, territory, and the entire state itself. Dr. Schaefer believes that if Mexico has any chance to slow down the powerful DTO’s they need to: “Seek to adopt more of the characteristics of governments that defeated insurgencies that they faced” (Schaefer). This is one of the ways Mexico could potentially combat the DTO’s. However, many of the organizations have infiltrated the police force and have men on the inside, increasing the dilemma to defeat the organizations. The DTO’s are currently winning this war and control a clear majority of the Mexican country. (CFR). 

Mexico  has one of the most corrupt governments and legal systems in the modern world. Countless members of the Mexican police force and army are on the DTO’s payroll. The corruption within the Mexican government is a considerable cause of the expansion drug organizations have been able to accomplish in recent years. The drug cartels are “sliding under the radar” and not being caught, however, a huge reason they are getting away with these atrocities is because of the massive pay offs. When they are caught, there is also corruption within the Mexican judiciary system and they once again find a way to not get charged. Drug cartels and DTO’s in general are still on the rise, the market is growing and becoming more profitable than ever. They continue to expand and have now made their way into Western Europe and garnering even more cash flow. If they continue to get the drugs into the United States and now across seas, the income will never cease and if the money never stops coming in, they will always be able to make those pay offs, thus continuing their reign in Mexico. (CFR). 

NAFTA or the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, is an agreement between Mexico, Canada and the United States that removes taxes on products traded between these three countries. NAFTA has caused the volume of trade between Mexico and the United States to grow exponentially. In a broad sense, it promoted drug trafficking into the United States: “Despite the successes of NAFTA in increasing U.S.-Mexican trade, its failures have ultimately exacerbated the drug trade today” (McKibben). The fast movement of non-drug related products from Mexico into the United States makes it extremely hard for United States custom officials to thoroughly search for contraband: “In 2013, about 350,000 loaded truck containers, 442,000 loaded rail containers, over 1.2 billion personal vehicle passengers, and more than 41 million pedestrians crossed the U.S.-Mexican border” (McKibben). This also led to the easier movement of cocaine from Columbia and other various South American countries. Instead of moving it via the ocean the Mexican DTO’s could now move it through their own country without running into too many complications. This is a cheaper and easier alternative that once again led to an abundance of money being brought in by the DTO’s. This cheaper alternative also lead to a drop in the price per kilogram of cocaine, again leading to a decrease in price paid by United States distributors and ultimately American drug addicts. 

Mexico and the United States government relations have flourished since NAFTA was created. However, due to the drug and war issues going on in Mexico, the United States is not pleased. The issues south of the border are expeditiously becoming North American problems. The United States is trying to help Mexico with their internal disputes because in turn it is slowing down Americas own drug issues. The United States relies on Mexico for more than just buying our goods; legal exports and imports to and from Mexico have been benefitting the United States drastically, especially since NAFTA was created. The DTO’s and cartel leaders are so powerful that if the United States decided not to aid Mexico the cartels would most likely take over. The DTO’s also have large armies and they could eventually outnumber any soldiers the Mexican government had: “Two of Mexico’s biggest drug cartels, Sinaloa and Gulf, have about 100,000 foot soldiers. This is just around 30,000 men less than the Mexican army possess” (CFR). This is a scary issue for Mexico and they are approaching a point of no return. If the United States were to take more control and help Mexico they would have a greater chance to make it out of the drug war intact. America’s distributors are fueling the cartels; which in turn is slowly causing Mexico to deteriorate entirely. 

With the high income of the DTO’s, weapons trafficking is becoming a more serious topic related to the drug war. Several organizations have been put in place by the United States to help reduce the weapons trade. These organizations include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms/Explosives (ATF) and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The ATF investigates violations of the federal gun laws under the Gun Control Act with regards to Mexico. They are also responsible for combating the illegal sale of firearms and explosives within the United States and globally. American companies are selling firearms and explosives to Mexican drug lords without being caught by the ATF or the ICE, which is leading to cartel violence and a rising death toll in Mexico. The ICE also enforces the U.S. export laws and resists against the smuggling of money, people, weapons, and drugs into other countries. Customs has had a hard time stopping smuggling since NAFTA and they are not to blame for all the smuggling that is occurring. Corruption within the United States government officials and border patrol is the bigger issue regarding smuggling and illegal trading. The vast United States firearms dealers know they can make piles of money from the drug lords if they can find a way to smuggle the weapons across the border and eventually into Mexico. It has been stated that: “Over a five-year period, 68,000 American guns ended up in Mexican crime scenes” (Yost). The corporations choose to ignore where the money is coming from and the hands the weapons are falling into. They are more concerned with their own profit and company than what is being done with the provided weapons. (U.S Efforts). 

It is easier than ever to cross the United States southern border, specifically between Arizona and Mexico. It is said that as many as “4,000 illegal immigrants” manage cross the border every day (Archibold). It has become too simple to gain entrance to the United States, and when the illegal immigrants get here it is even harder to get them out. It is difficult because they find work in large companies that do not care about their citizenship and their paperwork is falsified. The companies relish the cheap labor and will fight with the law enforcement because the Mexican immigrants will work for less than minimum wage which leads to the corporations raising their profits. The immigrants avoid coming to America in planes because security is much tighter and they have a better chance of making it by driving or sneaking across the border in unsecured areas.

The south border is the United States’ largest boundary issue: “It is where 90% of Cocaine, Heroin, and Meth found in the United States” (CFR). This is due to the extreme trade increase since NAFTA. The drug lords are intelligent and hide the drugs in a manner that is untraceable and undetectable so the chances of being caught are slim to none. However, every now and then U.S. Customs Officials discover drugs, but it seems to never be enough to stop the epidemic. An abundance of pressure is placed upon United States officials to act and find more contraband, but they must search countless items each day and they cannot manage to find everything that is coming through, there is just too much volume. 

With all the violence going on in Mexico, especially near the Southwestern border, the United States is concerned with it spilling over: “The Southwest border is the vortex of this activity. It's the last stand before the guns go across the border and it's our first line of defense for drugs entering the U.S.” (Walser).  The communities’ violence could easily spread to America if we do not keep the borders secure: “Mexican border cities are at risk for continued urban unrest, specifically the depredations of the VDTOs” (Violent Drug Trafficking Organizations), (Paul). The violence along the border is usually due to DTO groups fighting for territory and often border patrol has no choice but to get involved. When border patrol does get involved it often gets violent and usually results in countless deaths, both American and Mexican natives. 

There is a need to stop the violence in Mexico and the drug trafficking into the United States. If the drugs keep pouring in the number of addicts will continue to rise;  this is harmful for those suffering from drug abuse and the other citizens who are being negatively affected by drug trafficking issues. . The war is ongoing in Mexico and the drug addicts and distributors of the United States are paying for the DTO’s increasing armory. The number of soldiers fighting for drug lords is growing exponentially, all financed by the drug abusers of the United States. The key to stopping this war is to tighten the border in all facets and try to help the addicted drug users in our country. The United States also needs to prevent future drug users; they need to educate the younger people who are prone to drug abuse. Ultimately, if American dollars continue to be spent on drugs the violence and the war on drugs will never cease. 
