Mexico's Drug War: Defined by Corruption
Mexico 's Drug War: Defined by Corruption
The following publication is rife with manipulation and corruption of Mexico 's highest regarded political positions and jurisdictions. Former Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado officially declared drug trafficking a national security threat in early 1988. The United Nations estimate that 70% of the drugs flowing into the United States comes directly from Mexican drug trafficking cartels. Mexican cartels rely heavily on bribes and corruption as a means to infiltrate the Mexican political system. To the Mexican cartels, bribes and corruption is viewed as nothing more than, "the cost of doing business". A study by the National Autonomous University in Mexico City found that cocaine traffickers spend as much as 500 million a year on bribery. This calculates to almost $1,000 dollars in payoffs for each Kilo of smuggled cocaine. Mexico 's efforts of eradicating its deadly but lucrative drug industry have been severely bound by the rampant manipulation and corruption of the Mexican political system. A high level of corruption in Mexico remains as one of the most significant obstacles from eradicating the illicit drug trade operations and bringing a resolve to the ongoing drug war. As long as corruption continues to dominate the Municipal and Judicial systems of Mexico, it will remain a "failed state". And Mexico 's search of achieving a prosperous and stable democracy will continue to elude them. As drug trafficking in Mexico expanded, so too did the Mexican drug enforcement. Mexico tripled its anti-drug budget between 1987 and 1989, and tripled it once again in the 1990s (Andreas 1998). The increasing presence of Mexico 's drug enforcement has lead to higher drug related arrests and more frequent large-scaled drug seizures. Mexico 's increasing numbers of drug enforcement officers has also increased the regularity of Mexican cartels bribery solicitations as Ginaluca Florentini and Sam Peltzman
The following publication is rife with manipulation and corruption of Mexico 's highest regarded political positions and jurisdictions. Former Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado officially declared drug trafficking a national security threat in early 1988. The United Nations estimate that 70% of the drugs flowing into the United States comes directly from Mexican drug trafficking cartels. Mexican cartels rely heavily on bribes and corruption as a means to infiltrate the Mexican political system. To the Mexican cartels, bribes and corruption is viewed as nothing more than, "the cost of doing business". A study by the National Autonomous University in Mexico City found that cocaine traffickers spend as much as 500 million a year on bribery. This calculates to almost $1,000 dollars in payoffs for each Kilo of smuggled cocaine. Mexico 's efforts of eradicating its deadly but lucrative drug industry have been severely bound by the rampant manipulation and corruption of the Mexican political system. A high level of corruption in Mexico remains as one of the most significant obstacles from eradicating the illicit drug trade operations and bringing a resolve to the ongoing drug war. As long as corruption continues to dominate the Municipal and Judicial systems of Mexico, it will remain a "failed state". And Mexico 's search of achieving a prosperous and stable democracy will continue to elude them. As drug trafficking in Mexico expanded, so too did the Mexican drug enforcement. Mexico tripled its anti-drug budget between 1987 and 1989, and tripled it once again in the 1990s (Andreas 1998). The increasing presence of Mexico 's drug enforcement has lead to higher drug related arrests and more frequent large-scaled drug seizures. Mexico 's increasing numbers of drug enforcement officers has also increased the regularity of Mexican cartels bribery solicitations as Ginaluca Florentini and Sam Peltzman