Monday, August 08, 2011

Mexican drug war roundup

A pair of recent stories about Congressional testimony last week, including from Texas DPS chief Steve McCraw related to Mexican drug cartels provided new information and deserve Grits readers' attention:
Relatedly several other stories about the battle against Mexican drug smuggling merit mention:
MORE: Here's a copy of McCraw's testimony (pdf) to Congress, about which Grits may have more to say in the near future.

    11 comments:

    said...

    Ahhhhh, marijuana, crack, etc. – the Status Quo’s stash cash cow.

    Sandy said...

    End this senseless war overnight - legalize it all.

    Swede said...

    Legalize MJ. Start tracking guns and stop selling assault rifles except to duly licensed people who really need them (ranchers?).

    Work harder to stop the flow of money, ammo and guns going south. Reduce barriers to trade to give the countries south of the border a more level playing field on which to compete in things like citrus, basic industries, legal crops (rice, wheat) and stop subsidizing industries that can't compete in the US without thievery from the pockets of the taxpayer.

    Anonymous said...

    Feds (BATF, FBI, DEA, ICE, CIA, Homeland Security) are all starting to show involvement in trafficking drugs north of the Rio and weapons south of the Rio. Ya think maybe the Attorneys General should start investigating showing he gives a damn about Texans?

    Recent Houston news article:
    Congressional Inquiries Turn To Houston Over Gun Trafficking Investigation

    http://www.click2houston.com/news/28781637/detail.html

    Dropcrate.com said...

    I have to question the reliability of Narco News when they said, "In Mexico, 90 percent of the weapons recovered in drug-related violence are manufactured in the United States."

    Unless they have different data it sounds like the 90% lie everyone keeps using.

    Gritsforbreakfast said...

    Dropcrate, I agree with you about the guns-from-the-US number. The US is a significant source, but probably not 90%.

    I posted the link because I've seen very little English-language coverage of the growing anti-violence movement in Mexico, not to endorse every jot and tittle in Narco News or any of these accounts.

    Anonymous said...

    90% of weapons from the US is a LIE...Unless you count from your local federal govt.

    Watch:

    http://rpginn.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1435&Itemid=1

    Anonymous said...

    Pictures of seized weapons:

    http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1102948_.html&page=1

    Gritsforbreakfast said...

    Yup, lots come from Central America and many also are stolen from the Mexican army, police, etc.. (And yes, I do count guns they got via the federal government "from the US.")

    Quite a few guns are smuggled south, though. The 90% number is overstated, but one should not make the leap from that conclusion to deciding that no guns come from the US at all. They do, and in significant numbers.

    DEWEY said...

    "Sandy said...
    End this senseless war overnight - legalize it all."
    Now, Sandy, you are asking congress to do something rational. Won't happen.

    Anonymous said...

    I went to an Austin Texas gun show and asked about buying grenades, 50cal. machine guns explosives and anti tank rockets. I must say that the Austin police are very polite and have some of the best coffee. It was the best 2 days I have ever spent, much nicer than the week I spent with homeland security.
    My point those shows are blanketed with law enforcement, and I went to 05:13 link and most of those are military weapons.