The Scourge of Illegal Mexican Drugs
It would appear that the illegal immigration problem is also tied to the drug trafficking problem. The trips of literally hundreds of so-called "mules," illegal aliens carrying drugs and attempting to enter the United States, are reportedly facilitated each week by the Mexican drug cartels. They are allegedly provided with vehicles, fraudulent identification papers, and information about the best points of entry. In some cases, both U.S. and Mexican Customs officials are also allegedly bribed to "look the other way" and ensure their easy crossing of the border.
Specifically in regard to drugs, according to counter-drug officials, an estimated 75% of all cocaine and 40% of all heroin that reaches the streets of America was smuggled through Mexico. DEA agents say that Mexican drug lords have become as powerful or more powerful than those leading the Colombian cartels. A 1996 San Francisco Chronicle article said that there is evidence that the Mexican drug lords are spending in excess of $500 million dollars a year to bribe and corrupt Mexican police and military officials.
Interestingly enough, a much heralded international agreement may also be contributing to this massive infusion of drugs. The NAFTA agreement essentially allows Mexican truckers free access to America's southern borders, in an effort to speed the transit of manufactured goods between Mexico and the United States. U.S. Customs agents say that pressure by officials high in the administration in Washington, to expedite without inspection the movement of thousands of tractor-trailer trucks across the border, can lead to a major importation of illegal drugs. Some more informed members of the U.S. Congress have attempted to renegotiate portions of NAFTA to close these loop-holes which make drug smuggling easier...so far with little avail.
And, least we forget, Mexican drug lords are using everything from Boeing 727 aircraft (purchased for one-way trips to remote runways), to large container ships (like those recently raided and found filled with RPG's and AK-47's) and transiting the Pacific coast for Mexico, to piggy-backed tractor-trailers, to ultra-lite aircraft, in their widely successful efforts to import dangerous drugs to this country. According to one drug enforcement agent who spoke to ENN, "the drug dealers imagination in importation methods is only exceeded by the grotesque amount of money they make in doing so." "It is a vicious circle...they sell drugs and make massive amounts of money...they use the money and violence to corrupt government systems and sell even more drugs...thus making even more money."
emergency.com
Now, the good news, Yaacov, is that we're only talking of drug (smuggling)... Yet, if the US keeps messing around in faraway countries, that tractor-trailer rolling by a (bribed) US customs officer might be carrying something MUCH nastier than cocaine... something powerful enough to get a whole city spaced out... see what I mean? |
