Cartels Using Immigrants to Smuggle Drugs into the United States

Posted by azdrugrehabctr on July 17, 2014 under AZ Drug Rehab News | Comments are off for this article

As the drug cartels in Latin and South America gain more and more control, the United States is seeing more and more illegal immigrants at its borders. Looking further into this problem shows that the drug activity in the south is spurring on more and more refugees attempting to come into the United States, some being forced to smuggle illegal drugs.

Due to the drug cartels taking hold of much of the human trafficking routes used to get people into the United States, those attempting to cross over are being forced to comply with what the drug cartels are demanding. If individuals cannot come up with the large amount of money the cartels want in order to get the people over the border those people are forced to smuggle in drugs. The cartels target those who cannot afford to pay for protection and in exchange strap large quantities of drugs onto the bodies of those attempting to get into the United States. The drug cartels are also recruiting individuals to smuggle in drugs for money.

One reporter commented, “By making these countries so dangerous and virtually unlivable for its poorest citizens, the cartels have effectively created an incentive for people to flee, thereby providing themselves with more clientele for their human smuggling business.” This is interesting because what it points out is that the drug cartels are cashing in on two lucrative businesses. They are reaping the benefits of the high demand for drugs by United States citizens and cashing in on those attempting a better life in the United States, because the cartels have made life in their own country so unlivable.

The U.S. government is aware that there is an increase in the amount of people attempting to get into the country, but some individuals do not think the government sees the correlation between the drug cartels and the increase in illegal immigrants. In order to really handle the problem, some are calling for the government to get more involved in the disbanding of the drug cartels. As the problem continues to grow many eyes are fixed on governmental solutions, but as stated in many areas of the drug addiction treatment field, reducing the demand for the drugs through effective treatment and prevention will also reduce the amount of drug trafficking that occurs. Boarder control is not the main problem.