"Mexican Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) remain the greatest criminal drug threat to the United States. No other group is currently positioned to challenge them." - Unclassified DEA Drug Threat Assessment, 2016
Mexican TCOs maintain influence in large parts of Mexico for the cultivation, production, importation, and transportation of illicit drugs. They then control lucrative smuggling corridors across the United States Southwest Border. (SWB). Once across, they are delivered to consumer markets everywhere within the United States.
Gangs are up according to federal, state, and local law enforcement reports. Law enforcement also have connected local gangs to mexican TCO drug sources of supply.
What follows is the threat from each major drug:
-Controlled Prescription (like xanax, oxycodone): the number of deaths attributed to these drugs have outpaced heroin and cocaine combined. ~52 american deaths per day.
-Heroin: deaths continue to be on the rise. There are large poppy farms in Mexico, creating high-purity and low cost heroin to market into the united states. about 10,000 died in 2014 due to heroin overdoses
-Fentanyl: This drug is incredibly dangerous to law enforcement, is manufactured in china or mexico, and then smuggled into the united states. Merely touching a few grains of it could cause a fatal overdose. The threat is something law enforcement takes incredibly seriously.
Meth: Most of US meth is produced in Mexico, and smuggled across the SWB. Seizures of domestic meth labs is down, likely due to the large availability of it coming from Mexican TCOs.
-Cocaine: on the rise, mostly from colombia.
-Marijuana: Tons come from Mexico, but its also made domestically.
Smuggling across the border occurs in a variety of ways. The vast majority occurs over land. The most common way is smuggled within vehicles in hidden compartments. Tunnels are also used, however, and primarily smuggle literal tons of marijuana. As of March, 2016, 225 tunnels were discovered since 1990. 224 of those tunnels were discovered on the SWB, with 185 of them crossing into the US. They are also transported on commercial trains and passenger buses. To a small extent, speedboats off the coast of california are also used On the other hand, traditional methods like using "backpackers" to cross the desert are very common.
The above information was all ripped directly from the DEA threat assessment of 2016. -https://www.dea.gov/resource-center/2016%20NDTA%20Summary.pdf
BTW, overdoses are responsible for 49,714 American deaths in 2014. Motor vehicle accidents accounted for 35,398. Not to mention the number of deaths attributed to cartel or gang violence resulting from the drug trade. -http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Causes_of_Death
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TLDR: Drugs are bad, mkay. This post doesnt even address other threats caused by our open border. Illegals do commit crimes. By definition, they've already committed one. But moreover, its a hard life for people who arent supposed to be here. To solve some of those hard life problems, crimes do occur. Not to mention threats caused by cartel members or gangs. The threat is real.
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Alright, so lets get to the point. Something needs to be done. Wall?
Pros:
- Stops backpackers cold (Do i need to address the "ladder" argument?)
- More men (trump has said this) means more surveillance. The more people we have guarding, the fewer smuggling vehicles will get by us.
Cons
- Its a wall, and a blight upon America
- Its a wall
- Its expensive.
- Does it even stop tunnels?
So, yay or nay? If nay, why? Political reasons (ew, walls are unamerican)? Economic reasons? Or something else?