TIJUANA (Messico) January 23, 2009 Santiago Meza Flores arrested(Photo Ansa)   For some time, Governments and public opinion have paid much attention to the “Mexican question”: the drama this great Central-American Country is experiencing, gnawed by economic crisis, war between bands of narcotic traffickers and, now, by the outbreak of swine influenza. A drama that goes beyond the Mexican borders and involves, first of all, the border Countries, starting from the United States, but it can spread to Europe. If the economic crisis and the influenza are means of preoccupation, it is the war between drug bands that devastate the Country, also due to the wealth produced by the rivers of drugs that flow through Mexico, and not only in the direction of the United States. With accuracy and a wealth of data, Guido Olimpio outlines the Mexican scenario, the implications with the neighbouring Countries, and the attempt of expansion of the drug traffic towards Europe, through the alliance of the Italian organized crime. He then goes on to analyze the instruments in the field that try to arrest the course towards the abyss and warns that to revive Mexico, the always more sophisticated systems of repression are not enough. The programmes of the Calderone chairmanship need international support and cooperation which, first of all, mean the reduction of the demand for drugs, but also the slowdown in the traffic of arms.

It is as if the ”seven plagues of Egypt” have fallen on Mexico.
First, the backlashes of the world economic crisis with a drastic reduction of remittances from the Mexicans abroad and a fall in the emigration of 26%. Then the epidemic provoked by the ‘A’ influenza, with considerable damage for the population and for the tourist industry. A first conservative evaluation speaks of a loss of 10-15 million dollars and a contraction of 4.1% of the GDP. Probably, the real impact will not be understood before several months. Right in the middle of all this, the explosion of the war between the drug cartels, with a chilling series of murders and attacks. Phenomena certainly not uncommon for this great Central-American Country, a traditional point of transit for cocaine that from Colombia reaches the United States market. But the numbers signal a dangerous tendency, and furthermore, rouse disturbing questions from international observers. Within the span of a few years will Mexico become a narco-State? Will the strategy of the present Calderon presidency be able to halt the advancement of the organized crime? Is it possible to help a Country to grapple with a threat which is spreading like an oil slick and is reaching also Europe?



The alarm

For now, definitive answers to the questions posed by experts and diplomats do not exist. And it could not be otherwise: it is preferable to examine, in perspective, what is happening. The most anxious tend to the theory of a Country on the brink of a precipice. Other look at the past. Mexico has seen difficult moments and violence is cyclical, if not endemic. Therefore, there are still margins for manoeuvre. It is certain that in many capitals, starting with Washington, the Mexican situation is followed with close attention – excessively, at times.
A Report prepared by the American military has indicated Mexico and Pakistan as the two States at risk, where, one day, the Americans will be forced to intervene in a direct way. The Report concerns, obviously, scenarios elaborated at the desk and the computer. They are, however, still evaluations supported by numbers. Of murdered people. Of drugs transferred to satisfy an insatiable and inexhaustible market – in a suburb of Atlanta and in the centre of Milan, to the outskirts of London or along the Ramblas of Barcelona.
In Mexico, in 2008 alone, 6290 crimes connected to narco-traffic were registered. In the first 9 months of 2009, there are already 2300.
By the 11th March this year, 186 decapitations have been counted, a figure that has never been reached – not even in the hell of Iraq - and by today, the number has been amply exceeded.
Ninety percent of the cocaine directed to the United States transits along the “white corridors”, open on various lines of direction which cut California, Arizona New Mexico and Texas. The cartels are present in at least 41 Countries, with significant points on the US territory: there are between 200 and 250 locations where the traffickers have symbolically planted their flag. One hundred and fifty thousand people are employed full-time, in a direct way, in the “sector”. An army of informers, “soldiers” killers, simple soldiers, carriers and lieutenants divided between the leading families and the clans. To these we can add 300 thousand individuals who dedicate themselves to the traffic of marijuana (Mexico is the second producer, after Afghanistan), of opium and amphetamines.
The profits for the criminals oscillate between 10 to 35 billion dollars, according to calculations. A colossal “wealth” confirmed by a colourful note: this year, the “padrino”, El Chapo Guzman, was included in the list of the ‘nabobs’ edited by the American review “Forbes”. A recognition which offended the Mexicans, but which describes what the bosses are.
Under the pressure of President Felipe Calderon, the Authorities have launched a more aggressive strategy, to a great extent conducted by the army, which has led to the arrest of 60 thousand suspects, in the last two years. The involvement of the Armed Forces was made necessary due to the unreliability of the traditional police apparatus. Many agents and executives are in the pay of the bosses, the police stations do not have adequate means and in some frontier zones they are like small Fort Apaches under siege, without counting the dozens of police assassinated and those forced to seek political asylum in the United States because their names have finished up on the black list.
The collusion between gangs and investigators is not, unfortunately, a Hollywood invention, but a concrete fact. A complicity which often transforms the agents into pure criminals, in the sense that they carry out an active role. If the militarization of the clash has furnished the authorities with an effective form of response, the negative side is that fears are growing for the violations of human rights. In the first days of May, the “Human Rights Watch” association issued a report indicating, at least, 17 cases where soldiers had committed crimes against 70 persons. Excesses to impute to the atmosphere of emergency, to the lack of specific training – the military learn how to fight the war – and, lastly, to the necessity of responding to the challenge in a climate of complete lack of faith in the institutions.
The ordinary Law, as well as having to handle a mountain of cases is afflicted by slowness and rustiness. A study has revealed that out of 100 persons arrested under suspicion of having committed a crime, only 4 are convicted. The ‘show of force’, with the alignment of almost 10 thousand soldiers in the Ciudad Juárez only, one of the key cities in the clash together with Tijuana has brought results in the short and medium term. Different sources affirm that in almost all of the Mexican States bordering the United States, the control of the authorities is questioned and often passes into the hands of the bandits.
Parallel to that of the drugs, there is the problem of the kidnappings. In 2008, the official statistics spoke of 65 abductions per day, but general opinion puts the number much higher, since many cases are not reported to the Police. An industry to which the narco-traffickers dedicate themselves to increase their earnings, and small criminals who for a few hundred dollars will carry out flash kidnappings.


The beginning

If today Mexico is fighting this battle, it owes it to two events. The first is tied to the move of President Felipe Calderon – in 2006 – of hounding the cartels in a very vigorous fashion and to make the fight against this criminality his personal crusade. Some observers have found an analogy with the “war on terrorism” of George W. Bush, a policy which marked the two Republican terms in a very significant way.
But the offensive of Calderon developed in an unstable operative theatre, when the Mafioso groups – after having scrapped pacts and agreements – triggered a blood feud without end.
A process of splintering – within the constituted clans – which had been made more bitter by the attack of the State and which finds its origin in the plan devised eight years ago by Joaquim El Chapo Guzman, then among the bosses of the Sinaloa Cartel. The padrino launched it after his incredible escape in a small laundry truck, on the 19th January, 2001.
A providential escape which impedes his imminent extradition to the United States and on which many versions have been circulated. Including the one which maintains that the escape was facilitated to favour his return on the scene, so that he could hinder the other gangs. One thing is sure, Guzman, once free, hid with the Beltran Leyva brothers – today his fiercest rivals – and he relies on another ‘caid’, Ismael El Mayo Zambada. In the Spring, according to what emerges from the official documents – El Chapo calls a summit meeting at Monterrey (Nuevo Leon), which is attended by El Mayo, Arturo Beltran Leyva and Zambada. They establish to eliminate Rodolfo Carrillo Fuentes, known as El Nino de Oro, brother of Vicente and a top man of the Juárez Cartel, therefore to exterminate the Los Zetas, organization of killers recruited by the Gulf Cartel. The objective is to impose the supremacy of the Sinaloa Cartel in the control of the cocaine traffic. A repetition of what had already been done in 1989, with regard to the Tijuana Cartel.
Guzman’s plan is realized. In September, 2004, the killers eliminate Rodolfo Fuentes and, in the meantime, the fratricidal conflict develops, with changes of alliances, truces and killings. The blood flowed along the borders with the US, in the States which look over the Pacific and in those in the north-east part of the Gulf, with flashes as far as Yucatan.
The inter-Mexican conflict has rapidly spread during the course of the last two years, both within the United States and towards the South. Bands tied – at various levels – with the Mexican organizations clash in cities like Vancouver (Canada) or Atlanta (USA).
The contagion has reached and spread into Guatemala, a Country where the wounds of the Civil War have not yet healed (16 dead per day), and in Salvador. Explosions of violence are recorded in Perù, Bolivia, Argentina and Paraguay. It is always the Sinaloa Cartel reaching out its tentacles, protecting them with killers and teams of gunmen.
The crucial points are the usual: the control of the market, the sale and transportation of the drugs, the creation of outposts of illegality. The Mexicans tend to stipulate operative agreements with local networks, but on other occasions they try to impose their own rules.


The cartels

The narco-traffic, as we have said, is managed by a group of families, which often form a “cartel”. Let us see the principal ones, with their respective leaders.

– Today, is the most important one and gathers various criminal associations under its insignia. Under the ruthless and iron rule of El Chapo, it wants to maintain its own position of supremacy and push its rivals to the sidelines. For the experts those of Sinaloa are considered the “founders” of narco-traffic. At the beginning, they exploited the ‘campesinos’ – the peasant farmers who cultivate the marijuana – and the regional capital, Culiacan, was considered the ‘homeland’ of the opium. Then, in cahoots with the Colombians, they dedicated themselves – in part – to cocaine, setting up different organizations. It is the richest group, invests its gains in commercial activities, protects itself aggressively and shows itself dynamic and inventive in stream-lining systems to export the powder. El Chapo, who, according to certain sources, underwent facial plastic surgery, has become famous for having constructed a network of tunnels underneath the Mexican-US borders. The Cartel has hundreds of informers on its payroll, among them many exponents of the forces of law and order.
Another figure of the clan is Ismael El Mayo Zambada, who combined the heroin racket with that of the cocaine. Clever in cultivating relations, he ‘worked’ a long time with the Ciudad Juárez clan and, in particular, with Amado Carrillo Fuentes, known as the “Lord of the Skies” because of his fleet of aeroplanes employed in the transfer of the drugs. This cooperation concluded in 1977, when Fuentes died during the course of a plastic surgery operation. The Americans have put a price on the head of Ismael, also called “the king”, of 5 million dollars. Like other bosses, he also has changed his facial features. In March of this year, the Police were able to arrest his son, Vicente, considered to be one of the economic brains of the organization. El Chapo, for his part, had seen his son, Edgar, assassinated by a commando belong to the Leyva clan. Protected by extensive complicity and an efficient security apparatus, Guzman hid at Guanacevi, 300 kilometres north-east of Durango. In the middle of April, this was revealed by Bishop Hector Martinez, who also added, “everyone knows”.
Within the Sinaloa Cartel, Arturo Beltran Leyva moves, also named El Barbas. Allied with Guzman for years, today he is his ferocious adversary, even if the news of the war alternates with possible truces (the last one in January, 2009). Leyva has won a sinister fame for the use of his “find and kill” teams, at times, composed of very young members of the Mara Salva Trucha, the feared Salvadorian gang present throughout the entire American Continent. The Boss has made ruthless attacks on the forces of law and order and when he was able, bought their support. At the end of 2008, an enquiry was made which disclosed that high officials receive 450 thousand dollars a month, in exchange for the information they pass on to the bandits. In the first months of this year, Leyva denounced the tacit cease fire reached with the Los Zetas (Gulf) and unleashed his men in a terrible man-hunt in the Jalisco Region. Minor episodes in the ‘Great Game’ of drugs, but they give the idea of the instability.

– United under this banner are the traffickers who have their bases in the east of the Country and in the Yucatan.
The band draws it origins from the alcohol smugglers, many active in the 30’s, and converted, in the 70’s, to narcotics, on the initiative of the Abrego clan.
Two decades later, a nucleus of soldiers of the special units joined the group: thus was born the Los Zetas, the Gulf killers of whom we shall speak further ahead.
For years the recognized head of the Cartel had been the ex-mechanic, Osiel Cardenas. But after his arrest in 2003 and his consequent extradition to the USA, the position was assumed by his brother, Ezequiel, while Heriberto Lazcano is the Chief of the Loss Zetas.

– Is animated by the Arellano family and has its reign in lower California, one of the preferred transit points to send the drugs to the American territory. For years, Miguel Felix Gallardo was the beacon, a function which, following his capture, has now passed to others. Until the 80’s, the clan was part of the Sinaloa, then went into business for itself, successfully defending its position, notwithstanding police operations and heavy attacks from its adversaries.
The American Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) have calculated that in their golden period the gang cashed in around 200 million dollars a week. The summit of the organization is in the hands of Fernando Arellano, Manuel Galindo “El Caballo” and Enedina Arellano, an accounting expert who directs a vast economic empire in California. Hotels, chemists, small businesses and shops, guaranteeing an important income.
Apart from internal enemies, the Cartel must also watch for enemies from behind. The hardest blows received were from an ex-lieutenant, Teodoro Garcia Simental, called “Teo” or “Tres letras” – ergo the three letters that compose his name T e o. Initials used by his men to put their signature on the homicides.
Simental left the mother organization because he had been accused of endangering business with an indiscriminate campaign of kidnappings, extortion and homicides. Forced into hiding for several weeks, he then returns to Tijuana to challenge his chiefs. Teo had earned for himself fame as a cruel man: Santiago Meza, known as “the cook” carried out his orders: a man who confessed to have dissolved more than 300 bodies.
For some time Simental has been on a neutral basis with Sinaloa and has formed his own ‘private guard’ entrusted to Raydal Lopez Uriarte, alias Muletas, who has even had a special uniform made on which is sewn the word “Fem”: in Spanish, the “Special forces of Muletas”.

– Takes it name from Ciudad Juárez, twin city with the Texan El Paso. With as many as 1600 homicides in 2008, it is one of the most violent places of the Country: a primary role tied to the presence of traffickers in human beings, arms and drugs. As mentioned before, the zone was a stronghold of the Carrillo Fuentes, with Ernesto Fonseca and, therefore, Amado Carrillo. The gang is run by Vicente who must, however, counter the assaults of other formations, in particular, that of Sinaloa, which has succeeded in bringing certain “officials” over to its side. In the middle of the 90’s, “Juárez” was considered the principal criminal group, able to transfer enormous quantities of drugs to the United States. According to a version, Amado Carrillo died during a plastic surgery operation, and was recognized from his finger prints, but not everyone is convinced of this identification. Another aspect: the doctors who had operated were assassinated.

– Very active in the 90’s. It was directed by the Valencia brothers, tied to the Arellano Felix. Their speciality was the transport of cocaine aboard fishing boats. Today, they operate at Nuevo Leon, Jalisco, Colima and Michoacan, but have to reckon with much more aggressive and powerful formations. Police sources affirm reasonable relations with “Tijuana” and “Sinaloa”. In essence, the bandits are authorized to manage their local traffic without, however, expanding the market.

The clan, present in, at least, seven States, dedicates itself to the production and diffusion of synthetic drugs. It imports the necessary substances from Europe and Asia and processes them in laboratories at Colima and Jalisco, and ultimately moves the drugs to Lower California, before the final run to the United States. Within the American borders the sale is guaranteed by the urban gangs and, in particular, those of the motorcyclists. One particularity: the recognized heads, Jose de Jesus and Adan Amezcua Contreras, are imprisoned, but this does not impede the accomplices to continue the illicit activities.

– Ignacio Villareal Coronel – Alias El Nacho, originally from Veracruz, 55 years old, criminal expert, is considered the king of the amphetamines, produced in a series of hideouts created in the north-west of Mexico. In the 80’s, he collaborated with the Carrillo Fuentes and took care of the logistics that ensures the drug shipments by small aeroplanes. Then, with the death of Amado Fuentes, in 1997, he distanced himself from the feuds, developing his own interests in Yucatan and in the Sonora Region. He re-enters the greater drug scene to take care of the financial aspects of the “Federation”, where the major part of the bosses were seated. A position which he occupies until 2004 when, following the end of the Federation, he dedicates himself with more energy to the amphetamine market. He creates a large number of “super laboratories” which allow him to satisfy the great demand which arrives from the US. For this reason he is a target of the FBI and the DEA. He has numerous hideouts in the State of Jalisco and Yucatan, however, he prefers to hide in certain villages south of Durango.

– Is the cartel that has its stronghold in the picturesque State of Oaxaca. Its products are both cocaine and marijuana. The organization was created in the 70’s by Pedro Diaz Parada, who uses a fleet of small aircrafts and motorboats. He was arrested in 1985, and condemned to 35 years imprisonment. A sentence which does not frighten him. He replied to the Judge with these words: “I’ll escape and you’ll die”. It is not a threat, but a prophesy. Several weeks later he escapes and in 1987, Judge Pedro Gallego, who condemned him, was assassinated in the small town of Cuernavaca, quite a distance from Oaxaca. Parada manages the Cartel for 10 years without excessive problems. Then, finally, in 2007, he is again arrested.

– Is one of the last organizations to appear on the Mexican scene and has its bases in the Region of Michoacan. According to the Authorities it was formed in 2004. The first reports indicate that it was formed to counter the passage of the Los Zetas or, as some sources sustain, to defend its own (illicit) interests. Two years later, however, the positions are much less clear. There are those who cooperate with the Los Zetas and those, instead, who continue the battle.
Then, during the course of 2008, micro-scissions in the historic leadership began to happen – the “Los Sierras” – and their followers, divided in 4 segments: Los Historicos, remaining with the Los Zetas; Los Extorsionistas, traders and farmers interested in imposing ‘kickbacks’ on any activity in the Region of Michoacan; Los Cobradores de deudas, allies of Milenio and Sinaloa; a fourth vein which is dedicated to the rackets of pirated films.
The Family – compared to rivals – presents certain peculiarities. First of all, it presents itself as a paladin of the citizens, defending them against the criminals, even though they are themselves delinquents. The legend it wants to pass down, also with interventions on the Internet, is that it acts in the name of security. In reality, it extorts money from its neighbours, decapitates its enemies and, at least in one case, resorted to a form of terrorism: throwing grenades into a crowd gathered in a square at Michoacan. An attack denied by the heads and attributed to the adversaries, but the Police maintain, instead, that it is to be imputed to the Family.
The second element is the “para-religious” character. Its leader, Nazario Moreno, has prepared a sort of bible wherein it prescribes rectitude, moral behaviour, respect for your neighbour, refusal of the use of drugs and alcoholic drinks. And many of his lieutenants pose as “pastors” who tend the souls and the interests of the population.
The third aspect is that of the narco-messages. The Family, more than the others, disseminate posters and streamers with warnings, threats, communications addressed to adversaries and the authorities. In May, for example, a message appeared in which the criminals accuse police officials of badly treating the relatives of certain traffickers. The day after, one of the officials was assassinated together with his entire family. Among the victims were also children.


The Militias

The cartels have mini-armies under their orders with a high potential of firing power. They use these armies to inculcate terror, to attack the State and neutralize the adversaries. The most evident manifestation of this is represented by the Los Zetas, originating as the armed branch of the Gulf cartel. In the middle of the 90’s, the organization recruits 30 or so military belonging to the Gafes (Special Aeromovil Group of Fuerzas), who follow their superior, Colonel Arturo Guzman Decena. They are well-trained soldiers who have followed courses held by foreign advisors proficient in conducting an assault on a protected building and to employ any kind of weapon, from precision rifles to explosives.
Over time, the Los Zetas grow in number, arriving at several thousand Mexican and Central American followers. Among the latter the Kaibiles stand-out, ex-members of the Guatemalan special units.
After the killing of its founder in 2002, the Group passes under the direction of Heriberto Lazcano, later joined by Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, alias Tony Tormenta, brother of the boss, Osiel (imprisoned in the United States since 2003). The two were able to maintain some sort of control, even though there is no doubt that their members move in a semi-independent fashion. Nueva Laredo remains “zetaland”, but the “soldiers” have progressively extended the field of action entering directly into the traffic – drugs, kidnappings, trafficking in petrol and benzene. The experts affirm that the Los Zetas have been replaced by the so-called Los Zetas Organization. In other words a network of autonomous cells with ramifications in numerous Mexican regions.
Of the original 31 members very few remain alive or out of prison and this has favoured the growth of the “young lions”, who have in common with the former, the passion for arms, cruelty and the wish to remain always on the offensive.
A Report of the Mexican Judicial Authorities (December, 2008) drawn up with the help of some prisoners, has illustrated the traditional structure of the Los Zetas. It is not clear to what extent it corresponds to reality on the field, nonetheless, it is interesting to recopy it because it offers a description of the network. Here, in summary, the battle order starting from the bottom.
“Halcones”: the pawns, assigned to spying on what is happening in their district and in the city.
Le sentinelle: manage hideouts and eventual shops used as support bases.
Los Cobras: are assigned to the internal security, also equipped with “long” firearms.Zetas nuevos: are the components of the firing groups. They have an impressive arsenal (Kalashnikov, grenade launchers, machine guns, AR 15, Barrett precision rifles). Among them are many Kaibiles and some veterans from the first group. The task of conducting the most difficult and dangerous raids is the responsibility of this unit.Cobras Viejos: veterans of middle level, they exercise their authority on the younger Cobras. They have operative relations with the Leyva Clan.Zetas Viejos: are the survivors of the founding nucleus, the old guard.Los Escorpiones: this is a “division” composed of civilians and ex-military, who act outside of the structure and are tied directly to Tony Tormenta.Also the other cartels, without reaching the sophistication of the Los Zetas, have their killers, to whom they entrust their dirty work.
Sinaloa puts the “Pelones” in the field and, above all, the Gente Nueva”. Around 25-30 years of age, they move in teams of four and have the mission of obstructing the territory to the enemies of “La Linea”, small fry enrolled from those of Juárez.
Finally, the “police” of “The Family” operates in the region of Michoacan: bandits with uniforms and “service” cars. A common aspect is their recourse to the “baby-assassins”, often active in the American frontier cities. Young kids ready to kill for a few thousand dollars and then rewarded with entrance into the cartel. The same is for the involvement of elements of bands like the “Aztecas”(allies of the Juárez) and the MS 13.
A disturbing phenomenon is that of the vigilantes – even though from another aspect. In certain zones a formation, El Grupo is active. They conduct a personal war against kidnappers. They carry out negotiations on behalf of the families, guarantee security and many times intervene in a brutal fashion to neutralize bands of kidnappers.


The routes

To supply the American demand, the traffickers use any means possible, alternating it according to the controls and necessities.
The aircraft remains among the most important. Twin-engines to turbine and jet bring the cocaine from Colombia to Mexico and sometimes, directly to the United States. Then the cargo passes to truck or railway carriage. The Mexican Authorities have revealed that, in the period 2006-2009, the narcos used 2384 clandestine runways, 239 of which are in the State of Chihuahua. On such occasions, the traffickers resorted to the ultra-light aircraft to transfer reduced quantities of marijuana to the American territory. A hazardous system for the pilots, however, and which does not permit the transportation of too much “grass”. Usually, the aeroplanes are purchased thanks to the help of dummies and intermediaries who reside in the United States. At least 50 aircraft used by the cartel have American origin. This reality emerged from both a journalistic enquiry and from judicial proceedings and concluded in court sentences.
Smaller planes, instead, are stolen from private Mexican and American runways.
The land route develops on different direction lines. Sinalao uses the famous Panamerican Carretera, with support points at Panama and Salvador. The Gulf has the Colombian-Guatemalan axis, protected in Guatemala by the Kaibiles. The more stringent Mexican and American controls have induced the bandits to seek other routes and to aim – for the larger quantities of drugs – also for the maritime routes. In particular, on the Pacific side there exists the notorious “smugglers’ corridor”, which joins Ensenada to Del Mar. The drugs can be carried directly to the American coasts by small merchant ships, tourist ferries and fishing boats. The intense movement of yachts and pleasure boats represents a good cover and forces the Coast Guards to carry out many minute controls. For the larger quantities of drugs, the bandits resort to the “go-fast” (speedy motorboats), cargo and semi-submarines.
This latter represented the real novelty. Constructed in Colombia, frequently made in fibreglass, they can carry 10-12 tons of cocaine and 4 crewmen. They have an operative range of up to 5 thousand kilometres. Their cost oscillates between 500 thousand and 1 million dollars. They proceed under the surface of the water, leaving above a few centimetres of the hull: this makes them very difficult to individuate. Or better, this is what happened up to a year ago. The US Navy and the Military Marines of the coast side Countries have intercepted a good number – this happened, for example, in May, off Colombia – with the help of the air surveillance and thanks to information from the Intelligence.
The operative scheme is complex and simple. The narcosub stops at sea, but near the coast, transfers the “small packages” onto light crafts and the narcosub is then sunk. The crew return by air to Colombia, ready for the next mission.
The narcotics are kept in deposits and then brought to the USA through the legal mountain border posts or, where possible, in less controlled areas. The gangs take advantageous of the enormous flow of vehicles in direction of the US every day. A detail which will help to understand the possibilities: every year 4.6 million trucks enter the USA. Impossible to check every one. Even more difficult if we consider the normal car. To render the idea, it is enough to cite the seizure, in May, of a TIR truck carrying 10 tons of marijuana.
Once the frontier is passed, the cargos follow the great arteries leading to Canada or to the heart of the Mid-West, along which the bands have established bases and agreements.
Finally, the tunnels, constructed beneath the borders by specialized bands, must be remembered. There are those that are costly, equipped with lighting and air installations, and where it is possible for the trafficker to walk upright. Other are rougher, one has to crawl on all fours, but they are sufficient to allow the passage of the sacks of narcotics. Nogales (Arizona)and certain sectors of the Californian borders are the points where the highest number of tunnels has been registered.

The Great Neighbour

The Mexican question has become an international theme, not only for the objective gravity, but also for the great attention of the administration guided by Barack Obama.
With a crescendo of declarations and stances, the United States representatives have underlined the danger to national security. A motivated declaration, indicating the following risks: the activities of the narcos on the US territory; the ties with the American criminal organizations; the possible relations between clandestine immigration and bandits.
The analysis recalls homicides and abductions which happened in California or Arizona, with an evident connection with the original Mexican bands. Underlining the ramifications of the cartels with Atlanta, transformed on the basis of those of the Gulf. In February, the FBI conducted the operation “Xcellerator” with 750 arrests (elements of Sinaloa), followed by another swoop – 175 arrest warrants – against men of the Gulf. Investigations to put a brake on the incursions of the gangsters in the small towns of the United States border: El Paso, Colombus, Laredo, just to cite some localities. An alarm synthesized by one element. The Justice Department diffused a report, in the Spring of this year, where it specifies that no less than 20 juvenile or urban gangs of the US are doing business with the traffickers on behalf of whom they manage 58% of the market.
With great delay, the American Administration recognized the heart of the problem: the enormous demand for cocaine. The cartels make billions because there are millions of people beyond the border ready to pay for the dose. Even if in 2008, the statistics said, there is less coca in the streets of the American cities. A reduction to attribute to the wars between the criminals and to the controls of the Security Forces.
Result: since 2006, the retail price has increased by 41%, passing from 87 to 123 dollars per gram. The critics add, however, that the United States has done very little to take away the great desire. In 2008, the Federal Government spent 13.6 billion dollars for the control of narcotics. A budget distributed in this way: 64% in favour of the repressive activities, 34% for the prevention and cure.
Always under the Gorge W, Bush Presidency, a support plan to Mexico was launched, which provided for the sending of materials, means, technology intended for the security apparatuses of their neighbour. Congress, controlled by the democrats, approved only a first allocation, reducing the cheque of 450 to 300 million dollars, adducing the scarce guarantees of the effective use of the funds. Parsimony which has raised considerable polemics on the part of the Mexican Authorities, which urged Washington to act, not only to slow down the demand, but also to wipe out the flow of arms going to the narcos. The so-called “river of iron”.
Once again the statistics speak: each day, two thousand firearms of US origin pass in the direction of Mexico. Taking advantage of the lack of rigid regulations in the sale of arms, the bosses delegate persons in their trust to purchase machine guns, pistols, ammunition, precision rifles and military material in the armouries of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. The result is that over 90% of these criminals’ arsenals have its origin in the United States. The accusations do not appear exaggerated. It is enough to read the communiqués issued by the Army to confirm the confiscations. President Obama and his advisors are aware of the delicacy of the subject and wish to do more. But one clashes immediately with the powerful lobby of the arms and with the conservative environments for which the imposition of more rigid controls touches the 2nd Amendment.
Determined, however, to launch a signal, the Chief of the White House – who visited the City of Mexico in April – promised a more pronounced commitment. The virtual wall will be strengthened – sensors , tele-cameras, patrols – in some sections of the border. The Border Patrols will receive new means and, if necessary, the National Guard will be mobilized. The National Geo-spatial Intelligence Agency, in collaboration with NSA, has expanded the reconnaissance with spy satellites.
Measures which represent the beginning, and not the end, of a project which has need of many other resources. Strategies which are observed also by the European partners, given the interconnections of the great crime.

A link emerged in an enquiry which has led to the working together of the American DEA and the Carabinieri of the ROS of Reggio Calabria, coordinated by the Anti-mafia Prosecutor, Gratteri.The operation “Solare” was successful in neutralizing a criminal association which had put together the Calabrian n’Drangheta and the Gulf Cartel, with New York used as conjunction. A sign that our Mafiosi want to open a new collaboration and their Mexican counterpart wants to operate in Europe. A new event that is studied with notable apprehension of the Judiciary and the Police Forces.


Conclusion

As in international terrorism, the response to the emergency must be local and global – because it is undeniable that Mexico is only a chip in a more complex criminal mosaic. The cocaine arrives from South America – Colombia, Bolivia and Venezuela – but it moves along a thousand rivers that bring it to the coasts of West Africa, then into the United States and Europe. A business in which the Mexican cartels, the Serbian bands, the Nigerian traffickers and the Italian mafia bands participate. A multi-national which requires a counteraction of equal level. Mexico needs external collaboration made of technology, information, consultation and data exchange. But the help cannot fall from the sky and neither can it be imposed just because “we fear contagion”. The national sensitivity must be respected, the pride and the sovereignty of a Country in difficulty which, notwithstanding, is trying to react.
In the meantime, it is right to ask that Mexico accepts the outstretched hand of other States – and bodies of security – without this meaning a renunciation of its own prerogatives.
The collaboration – as in anti-terrorism – must be a two-way street. Equally fundamental, but not because it is demanded by foreigners, is that the authorities must continue to cut, with determination, those ties that help the narcos to have suspected or unsuspected protection. In the same way, it is indispensable that the authorities regain full control in areas where the traffickers have unacceptable margins of movement. A process which must take place in the law and for the law, without ceding to the temptation of finding shortcuts. An initiative that must not and cannot stop in front of those protections which, the Mexicans themselves realize, have favoured the adversaries of civil co-existence. The clamorous escape from prison of Zacatecas, in May, with 53 dangerous criminals, who also make an unimpeded escape, is proof of the extent to which the collusion has spread. And, as we have seen, the policy of containment concerns also the United States, where the use of narcotics is more of a social question than of public law and order.
Therefore, also north of the Rio Grande needs a new action. In three directions: containment of consumption, repression of the arms trafficking, control of the enormous sums of money which are recycled in the USA and then return – frequently, in cash – to Mexico.
Therefore, in conclusion, the existence of a Mexican question should be recognized. There are just too many indicators that confirm it and to pretend they do not exist would be naïve. Equally dangerous would be to present Mexico as an already lost cause. Violence and narcos did not just happen in 2009, they represent an inheritance of a difficult past, with which the Country has tried to live. To be sure, if the cartels are not destroyed, much bleaker scenarios could open.
So, it is reasonable to place one’s confidence in those who are trying to bar the way to these criminals. Not to do so would be a favour to those who dream of building an empire of white powder.