Perhaps most startling is the rate in which the killings have increased. Before 2008 Juarez had about 200 homicides annually, but in 2008 that number soared to 1,600 killings by the year's end. Now, with two months to go before this year's end, the number has jumped again to exceed 2,000. The Houston Chronicle released an article in which they interviewed Tony Payan, a professor at the University of El Paso who has been studying the problem in Juarez. Payan is quoted in the article saying:
“Having hitched itself [Juarez] successfully to American patterns of consumption, including drug consumption, it has also become the one city where the crunch of the war on drugs and the worldwide financial crisis have had a very heavy impact,” Payan said. “Tens of thousands of young men roam the streets with little or no hope of obtaining a job, of receiving drug treatment, of escaping the cycle of violence.”
“And the possibility of violence, which also encapsulates the possibility of making some money, draws them back into the eye of the storm. And thus, they are falling dead right and left.”
The situation in Juarez and other border towns has left many in the U.S. questioning if the cartel violence will spread to the U.S. Just yesterday, the San Antonio Express reported that “several” people were killed in a shoot-out between cartel members and Mexican Police at the border town of Nuevo Laredo. The fire-fight took place in front of a day care center as parents were picking up their children from school. The SAE reported that no children or parents were killed, but that one woman suffered minor cuts from a piece of shattered glass. The article also stated that, “the Texas Department of Public Safety sent a helicopter at the request of Mexican authorities to help provide reinforcements, and as many as 20 troopers were sent to the border in case anyone tried to crash the bridge.” Officials were quoted in the article saying that as of late Wednesday, none of the suspects had tried to cross the border.
The question of whether drug cartel operations have filtered into the U.S. was arguably answered today when the U.S. Justice department announced that they have arrested 300 suspects accused of having ties to the La Familia drug cartel network. In the memo sent out by the Justice Department, Attorney General Eric Holder said:
“This unprecedented, coordinated U.S. law enforcement action - the largest ever undertaken against a Mexican drug cartel - has dealt a significant blow to La Familia’s supply chain of illegal drugs, weapons and cash flowing between Mexico and the United States.”
“We will not allow these cartels to operate unfettered in our country, and with the increases in cooperation between U.S. and Mexican authorities in recent years, we are taking the fight to our adversaries. We will continue to stand strong with our partners in Mexico as we work to disrupt and dismantle cartel operations on both sides of the border."
Further, an article in the Dallas Morning News indicated that 84 of the 300 La Familia arrests took place in Dallas. The DMN article also stated that they acquired a criminal complaint filed in Dallas in which “investigators from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives claim that operatives of La Familia shipped hundreds of firearms from the United States to Mexico over the past 12 months.”
NPR related material:
October 16, 2009 | NPR· The state Public Safety Department said the bodies and severed heads were inside 18 plastic bags left in the bed of the truck, which was found blocking a highway in the town of Tlapehuala late Thursday. Police also found a threatening message attributed to the drug cartel known as La Familia.
October 10, 2009 | NPR· The news of Mexico\'s bloody cartel war is reflected in a controversial folk-music genre called narcocorridos, or drug ballads. They\'re like journalism put to song — telling stories of drug lords, arrests, shootouts, daring operations and betrayals. But, like the cartel war itself, writing corridos about drug traffickers can be risky business.
October 1, 2009 | NPR· The Mexican government\'s war against drug cartels over the past three years has claimed more than 11,000 lives, snared thousands of alleged criminals and brought down scores of politicians. One of the newer cartels being pursued by President Felipe Calderon\'s administration is La Familia, a group that mixes politics, spiritualism and violence.
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