Drug Cartels Are Not Friendly
September 26th, 2008 by Alex
Shortly after being elected, President Felipe Calderon executed a surprising crackdown on drug production and drug cartels in Mexico. First, he started with his home state, by bringing in 10,000 army troops, setting up checkpoints and taking weapons from corrupt policemen. Then, he started spreading the crackdown across all of Mexico.
This was great news, crystal meth and cocaine production dipped across the board, prices went up. Unfortunately, there was one group of people not so stoked about this - the Mexican drug cartels.
Their response? Increasingly gruesome violence aimed not only at adversaries but also at innocent people. Here are some stats:
- Drug related murders, by Sept. 3rd, hit 3,004 this year, compared with 2,673 in all of 2007
- A fraction of suspects are being convicted - only 12% of all federal investigations result in a conviction
- Drug addiction in Mexico has risen, as it’s harder to get drugs out of the country, and instead sell them to their own people
Now, the people are marching against the government for all the violence that these drug cartels are causing. Even worse, all the arresting and shuffling of those cartels is making them splinter into more pieces, with more fighting between them. It’s a lose-lose situation, with ruthless murderers right in the middle.
Cocaine Cowboys
March 9th, 2007 by AlexDuring the 80s, Colombian drug lords invaded Miami determined to control the trade by whatever means necessary. It’s what put the city on the map. Cocaine Cowboys is based on a true story of how Miami became the drug, murder, and cash capital of the US, recounted by the folk who made it all happen.
It’s a full-length feature film, nearly two hours long. And boy if you love stereotypes, this movie’s got ‘em. So if this sounds like something that might interest you, watch it. If not, just put it on during a party… I’m sure it’ll capture somebody’s attention.
