ken_in_dfw
Jan 11, 2010, 4:15 PM
Post #16 of 34
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Re: [esperanza] Drug Wars in Lerdo -- Update
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I generally agree with your assessment, Esperanza. There has been a qualitative difference in the type of drug-related violence in the U.S. versus in México.
That said, the difference is dissolving. By that, I mean that your scenario #2 is becoming more and more prevalent here in the U.S.
As this level of crime begins to hit home, I can't help but wonder what my compatriots here in the U.S. who have crossed México off their travel lists for fear of drug crimes will have to say when the FBI and DEA agents are literally busting down the door across the street. This last link is to an article that appeared in the Dallas Morning News this past Saturday, Jan. 9. Here is a snippet:
"Ovella Thompson awakened that Wednesday morning to the sound of federal agents breaking down the door at a crème-colored brick home across the street. Their search warrant alleged that Bernabe, an illegal Mexican immigrant, used the Garland "stash house" near Lake Ray Hubbard to store methamphetamine, vehicles, cash and ledgers documenting his business dealings..
"Twenty miles away, at approximately the same minute, a young father named Rafael awakened in his Love Field-area home and pulled back the curtains to watch federal agents bust into a house across the street and arrest Bernabe.
"You could hear the cops screaming," recalled Rafael, who asked that his last name not be used. "Who could have known? He and his wife have kids. He looked like a normal guy."
"Bernabe, at age 34, is anything but a normal guy.
"Although he has pleaded not guilty to drug charges, federal investigators say he exemplifies how Mexican drug cartels have extended their operations to the retail level in the United States.
"Once upon a time, the cartels were content to stay in Mexico and wholesale their drugs to Americans willing to smuggle them across the border to reap huge profits on the streets of large U.S. cities.
"Now, the cartels are vertically integrating their "companies" in much the same way oil companies expanded from drilling to refining to selling gasoline on street corners early in the 20th century.
"Dallas is a hub for drugs just like American Airlines uses Dallas as its hub for air travel," said Phil Jordan, a retired agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Texas."
I don't have any answers. Legalizing pot is one thing. But some of the stuff these guys are selling turns whole populations into craven zombies. On the other hand, we all know how Prohibition worked in the U.S. and the "War on Drugs" is really going swell, isn't it?
What I do know is that people in both México and the U.S. are going to have to get over their fears and work together to douse the fires that are spreading in both houses. As Benjamin Franklin once said, "We must hang together, or we shall all most assuredly hang separately."
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