Sunday, March 08, 2009

Drug cartel violence, possibly leadership migrates to US soil

Last month the Governor's homeland security chief told the Legislature that the "command and control" operations of so-called Mexican drug cartels are probably closer to Houston than the border, and a couple of recent Houston Chronicle stories seem to corroborate that claim:
Reported the Chron:

Among the unsolved local killings is the death of Pedro Cardenas Guillen, 36, whose last name is considered trafficking royalty. He was shot in the head and left in a ditch off Madden Road, near Fort Bend County.

His uncle is Osiel Cardenas Guillen, reputed head of the powerful Gulf Cartel. He was extradited from Mexico and awaits trial in Houston on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering and threatening to kill federal agents.

While it's comforting to think of drug cartel murders as something that happen on the other side of the Rio Grande, these stories put the lie to that myth. As I wrote last month, "maybe we shouldn't think of transnational smuggling gangs as 'Mexican' cartels" when those exercising "command and control" and many of their hired gunmen live on the US side of the border.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obama, Mullen discuss violence in Mexico

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/03/07/mexico.headless.bodies/?eref=rss_latest

Maybe we are already there but not really there.

Anonymous said...

Well, we are not going to solve this problem by letting everyone in prison that is there for drug related offences go free.

If they are paying $500 a week just to have someone on call, then business must be good. As long as there is demand, we will never win the war on drugs. And, court ordered drug counseling is not the answer...

Anonymous said...

The problem is the users. They are from american homes, but they are not true americans. They are a sad disgrace and indirectly involved in the murders and other related crimes. If they can't control their personal use, send them out of our country before they destroy it.

Anonymous said...

It is rather hard to have sympathy for self destructive people. I understand that drugs are addictive. However, the fact that drugs are addictive is common knowledge. If you choose to engage in behavior that you know may destroy your life or place you in prison, whose fault is it?

Liberals like to make victims out everybody except actual victims!!

Anonymous said...

The cartels are close to Houston in places called HUNTSVILLE, LIVINGSTON, ROSHARON, SUGARLAND, BEEVILLE, AND TENNESSEE COLONY. Drug gangs run their businesses from inside Texas prisons.

Texas Syndicate, Mexican Mafia, HPL, Barrio Azteca, Raza Unita, and Mexicles are all run from inside of Texas prisons. These groups pay high $$$$ to get cellphones smuggled into Texas prisons so they can run their business on the street from inside their cells.

We need to secure our prisons first, before we even think about the border. The violence is being caused by these groups. Underpaid and poorly trained correctional staff do not help with this problem.

Just last week 20 inmates in Juarez (a few miles from El Paso) were killed in a riot between Barrio Azteca and Mexicles. Barrio Azteca is a Texas based prison gang.

Narco-terrorism is only going to get worse until we start fighting it at its source, Texas prison gangs.

Anonymous said...

In martial arts, you're always taught to use the enemy's strength against him. In this case, the enemy's strength comes from the proceeds of illegal drugs. Take that away, and watch them wither. And how to do that? The same way Granddad did with Al Capone, by relegalizing the source of the Mob's influence and starving them of the enormous profits created by making alcohol illegal.

(Drugs weren't always illegal, you know; it wasn't until liberal social engineers early last century, in trying to create a drug-and-drink-free Utopia in America, started the ball rolling. The problems began with banning substances the social engineers, in their 'enlightenment', thought the 'common people' shouldn't have. And their ideological descendants still feel the same way, with an insulting belief that all Americans would become junkies overnight if presently illegal drugs were made legal again.)

You really want to go after them? You really want to do Turkish bayonet drill on the cartels? (Jab in bayonet, and then slam down on the forestock, disemboweling the target; very effective.) Then quit playing their game, and starve the b*****ds by making it legal, again. Otherwise, it's just more "Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby", and we've already got one hand and one foot stuck. Enough, already!

Anonymous said...

Rev. Charles here:
kaptinemo is on the right track. I would prefer "regulate" to "legalize." Some of the more harmful drugs, say meth, need to be regulated more stringently than less harmful, say marijuana. But take the profit out, the cartels fade away. I think the cartels moving north of the border will hasten the day politicians recognize this.

Anonymous said...

The approach builds on Mexico's freshened contract to greater synchronism with foreign law execution officials after years of anticipation and insularity.

Anonymous said...

Why don't we just do a better job of policing our southern border? Or, is this idea just too easy?