CRIME

The Enemy Within

Cartel-related violence has moved well beyond American border towns.

By Eve Conant and Arian Campo-Flores | NEWSWEEK
Published Mar 14, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Mar 23, 2009

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  • Posted By: Celtia @ 04/17/2009 8:17:22 AM

    Once more the Mexican government is playing that of the United States for fools. For decades those people have dumped their criminals and baby makers on this country, and responded to our pleas for assistance with nothing but scorn, contempt, and arrogance. Now they want our money to stop their criminals. Do you really believe that cash is going to go for fighting crime? They'll let ICE and the DEA do their dirty work and risk their lives for them, then Mexican officials will pocket all the money and laugh. Mexico is a failed country and a failed society. Mexicans are too lazy to fix their own corrupt government, so they come up here in droves and try to sponge off our society. Anybody who tells you that they don't has never been to a free health clinic -- 95% of the waiting room will be filled withMexicans or other Hispanics, and at least 80% of those will be illegals or the children of illegals. The police in my town have confirmed that 8 out of every 10 Hispanics we see are here illegally, and I can't imagine that the national figure is any lower. We need to send these people back to their own cess pool of a country. Let them fight their own damn drug wars, and let them take their bastard children with them.

    • Posted By: Stillbelievingintheamericandream @ 04/21/2009 5:12:11 PM

      • Posted By: Stillbelievingintheamericandream @ 04/21/2009 6:01:30 PM

        A society who have failed to learn from the past is doomed to repeat it. These problems created is because of the so called war on drugs. What happened in the war on alcohol, people killed,politicians corrupted,and people like Al Capone were glorified..So since this war was called by Nixon,who was impeached, over 30 years ago was is the effects from it. Hundreds of billions of dollars wasted fighting it,hundreds of billions more sent to drug cartels overseas for illegally trafficking it,millions of otherwise law abiding citizens sent to prison and their lives destroyed,billions more sent to lawyers so the rich white people can avoid prison sentences while the poor of all color are caged like rabid animals Anybody who thinks marijuana is the gateway drug and alcohol isnt is an idiot drunk who is influenced by the valiums the big drug companies supply, and the martinis the alcohol companies produce. These companies dont want it legal because it is naturally grown almost anywhere while their drugs they are peddling are man made.I know of noone who was killed by majiuana or anyone under the influence of it but I do know of countless people who were killed by or lives destroyed by alcohol presciption drugs or cancer related tobacco. The government needs to be at war so they can legally tax its people. They now have the war on terror so either end the war on drugs or quit being a hypocrit and include the real gateway drug,alcohol.

  • Posted By: KushSmith @ 04/08/2009 6:36:59 AM

    Open up your eyes American Citizen, I concuer with your point of view on the situation but the reality is that your own Gov is keeping information from you, not only that but its also not telling you the truth on how this economy got how it is today. The problems in our neighboring country of Mexico is not because Mexico is a "fail state" but actually it's because we have so many corrupt officials who are pulling on the strings and taking mony for turning the other cheek.Ask yourfelf this.... How did the Mexican cartels get so powerful and how are they pulling billions of US printed mony(cash mony)?How are the Mexican Cartels well equiped with full arsenal of American Weopons? Corruption my friend.. simply corrupt personel running the system. If Johnny Law was reallly straight and cared about its American people Johnny Law would of never let things get to how they are now.. we are talking about years and years of drugs being smuggled into US and mony and guns smuggled back into Mexico and our Gov officials and DEA sharks taking huge cuts for theyr own gain.. if your saying that Mexico is a fail state .. well America is notthat far from becoming Fail state material ..

  • Posted By: lanette @ 04/04/2009 9:21:57 PM

    We all had prayed that Obama would be different than Bush and do something about illegal immagration but it seems he does not care either! Nancy Polosi says they should be able to stay here! Really? Maybe they should have their neiborhoods changed by them taking over them and maybe they should lose a job and see so many illegals keep theirs! and i guess this is fair to our government officials! They just do not remember who gave them their jobs! and we need to remember this when their jobs come up for re election! it is our dumb a-- who forget and vote them back in! Let us remember those who do not care about the American People!

  • Posted By: gabbyur24 @ 03/31/2009 11:05:25 PM

    Why is the news media NOT asking the Dems why they have resisted securing the border for years preventing the present violence, and the economic terrorism of providing billions of dollars worth of free social services to non citizens? Why have they NOT apologized for implying those of us who ask legitimate questions are racist? Why have they NOT kept citizens abreast of developments so they have the information necessary to make informed decisions? Why have the news media made illegal entry into the U.S. the fourth rail of politics? Why have they allowed a group of people with an agenda to gain power in the U.S. to frame the issue as a racist one? Just as Bush framed the Iraq War to say if we questioned it we were unpatriotic, we are now declared racist when we ask valid questions about the cost to our safety and economic future. Why are NOT the news media fulfilling their fiduciary duty to keep CITIZENS informed?

  • Posted By: TNBirdman @ 03/26/2009 12:03:05 PM

    Just like the demand for drugs will be supplied by somebody, so would the demand for guns. I do not think many guns come from the USA unless these are stolen. Since guns in the USA are more expensive than other countries due to regulations and taxes. So it has to be guns obtained illegally or via the black market.

    Which is the point. Until we address criminals like with three strikes your out, crime will continue. Drugs, guns, kidnappings, robberies. It does not matter. Crime pays. And the consequences are not that stiff. So you get roof over your head, a color TV, congical visits, and three meals a day until you get back out. Better to do it here than in Mexico.

    • Posted By: tucanofulano @ 03/27/2009 1:32:01 PM

      • Posted By: tucanofulano @ 03/27/2009 1:39:41 PM

        Ask an expert where the weapons come from and how they get across the border....suggest you ask Ollie North

  • Posted By: tucanofulano @ 03/27/2009 1:29:45 PM

    There is no such animal as an "illegal immigrant" you're one or the other. Illegal alien describes a foreign national illegally within the USA. Advise your editors, please.

  • Posted By: jeanl @ 03/15/2009 10:00:49 PM

    Please check all the facts first. Don't be blind. Read more, look at both sides of the coin.
    In Mexico there are so many corrupt cops.. yes but.. how does the dope pass the US border... guess what? corrupt cops in both borders. So US cops are corrupt too, or do you think they don't have the tech or dope sniffing dogs?
    The cartels of Mexico are so violent and killing peopple. Guess what? Most of the guns, ammo, rifles, etc that they have are from the US. Aso from Russia but most of them from the US. In Mexico you can buy firearms just from the army and they are cal .22 and some hunting shotguns at least legaly. All other kind of firearms are prohibited and most of the permits are for protection only... most peopple can't walk in plain sight with guns, just have them in their house... by the way most peopple don't have firearms in Mexico, and less have a permit to have the gun with them at all times... so we can ask.. why the US let those firearms get into Mexico? mmm looks familiar the same way drugs are getting into the US?
    Corruption everywhere. It's sad but it's true.
    And finally is chilli, tortillas and mole or zarapes (food and folklore garment from Mexico) are getting into the US by tons and tons? Nope... why? because there is't that much peopple asking for it... so why are drugs crossing the border to the US by tons? mmm that's right... peopple are using it, and demanding more drugs...
    Remember... when you want to blame someone notice that if you point them with your finger ...3 other fingers are pointing at you.

    • Posted By: nawawimohamad @ 03/16/2009 4:15:11 AM

      This drug thing could be the downfall of the US.

      • Posted By: ga1819 @ 03/17/2009 10:45:27 AM

        jeanl: this is the same tired-a$$ argument used for years by Colombia justifying an economy built on the illegal drug trade. Mexico has taken the place of Colombia in this regard. Demand does not justify the impotence and corruption of the Mexican government. Here's one finger pointing at you; guess which one. The answer will be the same as in Colombia: track down the heads of these cartels, chase them across the rooftops, put a hole through their heads, then pose with the corpses as you would pose with an African hunting trophy. This isn't nearly as much about the drugs as it is about the terror utilized by these animals as a business model. I agree with decriminalization; that will prevent the constant recurrence of this problem. But first, we must exterminate the vermin. People that are responsible for this level of violence should never be allowed to participate in legitimate trade of any kind.

        • Posted By: jeanl @ 03/25/2009 4:12:47 PM

          ... You don't read! I said the problem is not the responsibility of just one country; it should be solved by both. But as you pointed "this is the same tired-a$$ argument used for years by Colombia" maybe you are too blind to see the common factor... you can wipe Colombia, Mexico, and 100 more countries... the common factor would be the same, and the demand for drugs would be fulfilled by someone else. I don't have any personal interest in blaming one country or the other I have family in both that were here/there before the independence, so I have interest in the solution not the blaming. And when I said 3 other fingers are pointing at you, I meant we all are part of the problem, but I think that was too much for you. And of course you seem to know too much about fingers, you must have a lot.

          • Posted By: jeanl @ 03/25/2009 4:51:55 PM

            Check out what Hillary Clinton said in Mexico.
            "Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade. Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the death of police officers, soldiers and civilians," add this to the poverty, corrupt cops and gov in Mexico and that's it.

      • Posted By: Vigilance @ 03/17/2009 11:16:57 AM

        Honestly, I actually believe you and others predict massive catastrophe so easily because it inflates your egoes to feel like you're a lone voice of reason, standing against the tide, or something. Given how often I see posts like this, it's hard to believe it's about the issue at hand..

      • Posted By: Vigilance @ 03/17/2009 11:14:37 AM

        Oh, dear Lord. Stop catastrophizing. This stuff is really bad, but America has seen FAR worse. I get sick of all the moralists talking about the destruction of mankind if we don't crack down on every bad thing that's happening, all the time, and imprison everyone who dares put a foot wrong. It's almost univerally been proven to be false - they even have a word for it. It's called a "moral panic".

        Honestly, I wonder what you would have done during the time of the Civil War, when it really did seem like the Union was falling apart. Or, if you'd been a Chinese peasant during the Opium Wars, when something like three-quarters of the country was genuinely addicted to opium.

        If you start talking about how "that's where we're going", or some other similar proclamation of moral apocalypse, I might wonder why you and others seem to think the massive use of alcohol - a drug capable of causing violence and easily casual overdose - isn't a problem...

  • Posted By: StraightTalkExpress @ 03/24/2009 12:49:54 AM

    KNUTE9 I couldn't have said it better myself. When is this country going to wise up and realize all the time and money that is being spent on the drug war. Like Knute( said, look at how long this country has been fighting this war and never winning it. It will never be won. Drugs will always be available just like alcohol was during prohibition. Think about all of the police effort that could be used for investigating and solving other real crimes, and the number of people in prison that would be free that would be supported by us taxpayers.. If these people were out of prison, tax dollars to prisons would be reduced, tax dollars to prosecute sellers and users would be reduced, police would be free to work on and solve real crimes. The current US drug philosophy causes demand to be high, causing drug prices to be high. If drugs were legally available, supply would cause prices to fall. This would cause a drop in robberies and thefts since a high percentage of these are caused by drug users needing large amounts of money to purchase drugs. There were plenty of people and religious mainstream cult worshiping groups back in the 1920's that thought ending prohibition was the wrong thing to do then. Now look where we are today. From the giant alcohol producers to the small wineries and micro-breweries, they are all highly adored by the majority of society. The businesses are regulated, taxed, and buyers are mostly regulated. No one goes to jail for selling alcohol anymore, law enforcement doesn't have to spend time hunting down and prosecuting illegal produces, destroying their equipment, hunting down and prosecuting buyers, and we don't have to support alcohol users in jails. It will be a win win situation if illegal drugs are legalized too. Wise up America. We are fighting a losing war on drugs. You can't fix stupid. If people want drugs their going to get and use them. We might as well regulate it and tax it, and at the same time stop the expense of crime fighting.

  • Posted By: StraightTalkExpress @ 03/24/2009 12:49:17 AM

    KNUTE9 I couldn't have said it better myself. When is this country going to wise up and realize all the time and money that is being spent on the drug war. Like Knute( said, look at how long this country has been fighting this war and never winning it. It will never be won. Drugs will always be available just like alcohol was during prohibition. Think about all of the police effort that could be used for investigating and solving other real crimes, and the number of people in prison that would be free that would be supported by us taxpayers.. If these people were out of prison, tax dollars to prisons would be reduced, tax dollars to prosecute sellers and users would be reduced, police would be free to work on and solve real crimes. The current US drug philosophy causes demand to be high, causing drug prices to be high. If drugs were legally available, supply would cause prices to fall. This would cause a drop in robberies and thefts since a high percentage of these are caused by drug users needing large amounts of money to purchase drugs. There were plenty of people and religious mainstream cult worshiping groups back in the 1920's that thought ending prohibition was the wrong thing to do then. Now look where we are today. From the giant alcohol producers to the small wineries and micro-breweries, they are all highly adored by the majority of society. The businesses are regulated, taxed, and buyers are mostly regulated. No one goes to jail for selling alcohol anymore, law enforcement doesn't have to spend time hunting down and prosecuting illegal produces, destroying their equipment, hunting down and prosecuting buyers, and we don't have to support alcohol users in jails. It will be a win win situation if illegal drugs are legalized too. Wise up America. We are fighting a losing war on drugs. You can't fix stupid. If people want drugs their going to get and use them. We might as well regulate it and tax it, and at the same time stop the expense of crime fighting.

  • Posted By: bigbenhd @ 03/19/2009 11:34:07 PM

    America is spelled with a capital 'A' you ingrate. Nothing pisses me off more than an immigrant badmouthing America. Why are you here? Go your ass home were there are no hypocrites, just dope thugs to kidnap your kids or execute you, or a government that can't even provide the most basic human needs nor does it want to. The Mexican government plays both sides of the fence, taking money from the dope thugs and US 'assistance. There is no disputing this, if it were not true, there would be no immigration problem, no urgency so profound that people risk everything, their very lives, to get out of Mexico. Since you have been subjected to this reprehensible iI want to make it up to you, I will personally buy you a bus ticket home. What's that? You don't want to go? No doubt! My country, love it or leave it!!!!!

    • Posted By: tocayo68 @ 03/20/2009 11:15:14 AM

      GO YOUR ASS HOME? WHAT??

    • Posted By: tocayo68 @ 03/20/2009 11:13:14 AM

      guess what? I already got my own ticket. 22 years was way to long to be around people like you, bred in such an artificial society, so plain,square, just dumb and really pityful. I love living in mexico and would not go back if you payed me.

  • Posted By: KNUTE9 @ 03/20/2009 10:29:10 AM

    The War on Marijuana has be going on now for 70 years. More people smoke marijuana today, by percentage, than in 1937. Presently the usage of marijuana is about the same as cigarettes among teenagers. Is that called success? The only thing wasted is tax money. We are paying far more taxes today because the prohibition of marijuana. 70 years of wasted money on enforcement, judicial, and prison systems. A failure from start to finish, we've spent a lot of money going backwards. Also we lost all the tax monies by not taxing it. Talk about waste in government. The tax monies would be better spent on education and PR campaigns. It is well known that Al Capone was a big supporter of the prohibition of alcohol. Why? There's a lot more profit to made in the untaxed market. There's so much profit that Capone bribed numerous politicians and law enforcement officials. The strategy right now is to ensure that marijuana is not taxed or sales regulated. Presently the drug cartels are controlling the production and sale of marijuana, not our government. Do you think a drug dealer going to ask a kid for ID? There is a drug war happening south of the border, which is undermining the Mexican government. Some people think that a fence on the border is the answer, it???s not. Prisons have concrete walls, barbwire, visitors are searched and surveillance cameras are recording every movement, yet drugs are still prevalent in prisons. So it???s silly to think that a fence on the border is going to make a difference. Do what they did to end the violence that was happening during the prohibition of alcohol, legalization. Why? Half the revenue of the drug cartels comes from the production and sale of marijuana. By legalizing marijuana would effectively remove 50 percent of the cartels monies. And any business, legal or illegal, which loses half their revenue, faces a great chance of complete collapse. Times are tough, the economic crisis today is compared to that of the Great Depression, and what help pay for the New Deal that helped pull the country out of that crisis, the end of prohibition of alcohol. Let us not forget that the hemp plant (marijuana) has many viable commercial and industrial uses (energy, material, medical, etc). Did you know that our founding fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp, and that the Declaration of Independence is written on hemp paper? Finally, the last three Presidents of the United States of America have smoked marijuana at one time. It's now the time to end the prohibition of marijuana.

  • Posted By: tocayo68 @ 03/19/2009 12:17:48 PM

    How about placing the blame where it belongs? Like the millions of drug consumers that the emerican society has bred. If mexico did not have the worlds largest drug consumer and gun provider next door, there would be no problem. The hyprocacy of americans is just incredible.

  • Posted By: Jimmys Crackhorn @ 03/19/2009 2:53:25 PM

    Revolution never comes with a warning, revolution nev er sends you an omen, revolution never rings the alarm like you gotta wake up this morning.....legalize it and the vast majority of these problems and these headlins disappear OVERNIGHT!!!!!

    BIllions wasted on wasting people's lives in jail and underground...all because of fear and greed.

  • Posted By: inc3000 @ 03/18/2009 3:00:35 AM

    Funny, Americans are the ones consuming drugs like CANDY, yet all of you are blaming the "mexican" for your stupid behavior.
    I bet 80% of you people reading this thread are a bunch of white druggies.
    You want a stop to violence, simple. STOP consuming drugs, stop selling guns to other countries and STOP whining and blaming others for your own behavior. Oh yes, and stop being so racists. Morons.

    • Posted By: tocayo68 @ 03/19/2009 12:22:52 PM

      I agree with you 100%, america has bred a very hypocrite society

  • Posted By: madonnasucks @ 03/19/2009 3:29:10 AM

    The real problem here is the fact that there is so much money to be made in drugs. It'sretty easy to blame users but the real problem is our drug laws. All making something illegal does is raise the desperation of everyone involved. The end result is an abnormal amount of money to made, coupled with a violent fight over who is going to make said money. The only real long term solution to this problem is to legalize drug use. The vast majority of people are not inclined to abuse currently illicit drugs any more than they are inclined to abuse alcohol, regardless of whether or not the drugs are legal or illegal. Those who are inclined to abuse drugs and or alcohol will do so regardless of the substance's legal status. We should take our lesson from the disaster that was prohibition and end this farce of a drug war that has gone on too long.

  • Posted By: Gato Pardo @ 03/18/2009 10:38:37 PM

    And yet hundreds of thousands of people throw their money sponsoring this trash. I say take all this people to the land of Oz, maybe the wizard has something for them. ( I know it's not gonna be a doobie)

  • Posted By: DarthRook @ 03/18/2009 10:04:05 PM

    It took the FBI years to track down La Cosa Nostra moles in the U.S. government (FBI, DEA). How long will it take to ferret out the billion dollar Cartel influence in the U.S. government? Oh ... you don't think they're here, huh?

  • Posted By: flaca90 @ 03/18/2009 1:47:15 PM

    They are going to get in some how. THEY WILL MAKE A WAY. They are really rich they take taxes from employers in mexico. They Got weapons, bombs, yets and probably lots more. We don't need to make enemies right now. And weed is not the thinng people should be worried about. I know a guy who tryed Saliva and it made him go crazy.

  • Posted By: flaca90 @ 03/18/2009 1:41:23 PM

    Why Don't The USA leave Mexico Alone. Drugs are going to come in no matter what. And They need to stop making Enemies Already. Mexico is another High oil provider. If we keep messing with them we are going to be at risk

  • Posted By: jdubbl @ 03/18/2009 1:33:38 PM

    This is another example of the way the excesses of liberal ideology(which i otherwise share) is abetting the blackest evil in our time. (For another prime example see the story on London also this issue.) The thing which comes to mind immediately reading this awful story is 1. legalize marijuana. 2. Control the border. Walls, troops, a moat, whatever it takes. A single cartel enforcer(torturer) should not be permitted to enter our country. Instead they dominate our streets with impunity. Whenever you run from evil hoping it will go away, it will follow you, as Americans in all parts of the country(Alaska?) will hopefully now realize.

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