The Mexican cartels feuding over distribution routes into Texas -- most notably I-35 running north from Nuevo Laredo to Dallas and beyond -- have taken control of most drug-related organized crime networks historically controlled by Colombian nationals, reports the Christian Science Monitor.
The Monitor reflects on how, as Grits mentioned earlier, new laws in the United States restricting cold medicine and other "precursors" for home manufacturing of methamphetamines have rapidly transformed the meth production market, enabling large Mexican producers to fill the growing demand previously met by small domestic labs.
I don't know any more about what's going on at the border than what I read in the newspapers, but I'll say one thing: to judge by what's happening in Nuevo Laredo, the whole "tough on crime" approach hasn't worked too well for Mexico. According to the State Department, "Penalties for drug offenses are strict, and convicted offenders can expect large fines and jail sentences of up to 25 years."
Via CrimProf blog
Penalties are strict in Mexico but adjudication is a joke. Even when suspects are arrested and charged. the discretion in the hands of the judge is enormous. Couple this with schokingly low pay and the opportunity for corruption is huge. Further, the "amparo" process or get-out-of-jail-free, while designed to protect individual rights and liberties is grossly abused to allow notorious "narcos" to walk free.
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