Is there a better argument for a border wall and increased security overall than the criminal nature of our southern neighbor? The open border has admitted millions of basic job thieves (driving down wages for America’s own working class) but has also allowed Mexican crime syndicates to enter and operate throughout the United States for years.
The map below showing cartel infiltration into the US comes from the appendix of the 2009 National Drug Threat Assessment.
In other Mexico crime news, former Presidente Enrique Pena Nieto has been accused of taking a $100 million bribe from cartel boss El Chapo.
Below, Mexico is also a very dangerous place for journalists brave enough to report on the cartel violence.
How bad is Mexico’s astronomical murder rate? One measure is that even diversity-prone NPR is reporting it:
Mexico Reports Highest Ever Homicide Rate In 2018, Tops 33,000 Investigations, National Public Radio, January 23, 2019
Mexico’s homicide rate continued to skyrocket last year, making 2018 the deadliest on record for the country with an average of 91 deaths a day.
A report released by Mexico’s Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection recorded 33,341 intentional homicides in 2018, a 15% increase over 2017, which held the previous record for the highest number of opened investigations with 28,866 cases.
Widespread violence over more than a decade has ravaged cities and towns alike, as drug cartels and criminal organizations appear to operate with impunity, facing few if any repercussions from law enforcement agencies that are rife with corruption or crippled by intimidation.
The exploding homicide rates pose an immense political obstacle for Mexico’s new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who, like his predecessors, campaigned on promises of rooting out corruption, and restoring law and order.
During his victory speech, the left-wing president proposed calling an end to drug war-era policies implemented by former President Felipe Calderon in 2006, that used military soldiers to crackdown on drug traffickers and crime.
“The failed crime and violence strategy will change,” Lopez Obrador said on election night. “We will address the root causes of crime and violence.”
Lopez Obrador also proposed amnesty for nonviolent drug offenders and boosting social programs.
Former President Enrique Peña Nieto, who took office in 2012, also vowed to put an end to the rampant killings and he had some success in early part of his presidency. However, his final years in office were marred by bloodshed. (Continues)
