Drug Cartels and Their Influence on Crime in the US

Posted by azdrugrehabctr on June 28, 2016 under Addiction Trends, AZ Drug Rehab News | Comments are off for this article

Cities throughout the country have witnessed an increase in violent crime for the last two years. And while crime is on the rise, it is not increasing at steady rates. This makes it difficult for experts and law enforcement to pinpoint exactly what is spurring the increase in violence. One theory that is growing in popularity is the effect of the Mexican drug cartels.

In the past, Colombian drug cartels, the Italian mafia and Asian drug rings have all been a threat to our national security. However, Mexican drug cartels have risen above all these groups and now pose the greatest risk to the United States when it comes to drug consumption, violence and murder, according to official reports from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The DEA has established several links between the cartels in Mexico and the street gangs in the US. “The Mexican drug cartels are moving to expand their share of US illicit drug markets, particularly heroin markets… Many gangs [in the United States] rely on Mexican Transnational criminal organizations as their primary drug source of supply, and Mexican organizations depend on street-level gangs, many of which already have a customer base, for drug distribution,” explained officials at the DEA.

Once the DEA was able to establish links between gangs and cartels, they began to see how these relationships were causing murder rates in the US cities to spike. Cartels in Mexico have developed a type of heroin that is much cheaper than past batches. This inexpensive heroin is more attractive to gangs because it allows them to sell more and make more of a profit. With more money on the line, gangs are waging war with rival gangs over territories, fighting over who can sell heroin on what corners.

With the Mexican drug cartel’s influence over the gang structure in the United States, and their influence over addicts in this country, it is easy to see why they are a threatening criminal organization. However, as long as people keep using drugs, someone will always be there to capitalize on their demise. Stamping out any one source will never erase the problem, as only prevention, intervention and treatment will ultimately solve the drug addiction epidemic.