Thread: Mexican Drug Cartels Armed to the Hilt, Threatening National

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Mexican Drug Cartels Armed to the Hilt, Threatening National Security
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
By Matt Sanchez


In November, along the border with Texas, Mexican authorities arrested drug cartel leader Jaime "el Hummer" Gonzalez Duran — one of the founders of "Los Zetas," a paramilitary organization of former Mexican soldiers who decided there was more money to be made in selling drugs than in serving in the Mexican military.

As El Hummer was being transported to the airport in an armed vehicle, his fellow cartel members launched a brazen attack against the federales.

They were armed to the teeth. Their arsenal ranged from semi-automatic rifles to rocket-propelled grenades. When the smoke finally cleared and the government had prevailed, Mexican federal agents captured 540 assault rifles, more than 500,000 rounds of ammunition, 150 grenades, 14 cartridges of dynamite, 98 fragmentation grenades, 67 bulletproof vests, seven Barrett .50-caliber sniper rifles and a Light Anti Tank (LAW) rocket.

This is modern Mexico, where the leaders of the powerful drug cartels are armed to the teeth with sophisticated weapons, many of which are smuggled over the border from the United States. It is with this array of superior weapons that drug cartels are threatening the very stability of their own country. And it's why America's outgoing CIA Director, Michael Hayden, says violence in Mexico will pose the second greatest threat to U.S. security next year, right after Al Qaeda.

"Americans are understandably focused on the flow of drugs and migrants into the U.S. from Mexico," says Andreas Peter, author of "Border Games: Policing the U.S.-Mexico Divide."

"But too often glossed over in the border security debate is the flow of weapons across the border into Mexico," he told Foxnews.com in a statement via the Internet.

The cartels are obtaining arms from America by using "straw man" buyers, who legally purchase weapons at gun shops and gun shows in the U.S. The weapons cross into Mexico, where border security is much weaker heading south of the border than it is going north.

Authorities don't know how many firearms are sneaked across the border, but the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) says more than 7,700 guns sold in America were traced to Mexico last year, up from 3,300 the year before and about 2,100 in 2006. Mexican authorities say 90 percent of smuggled weapons come from the United States.

In Northern Mexico, high-powered American weapons have enabled drug cartels to control whole territories. There is the Colt AR-15, the civilian version of the military M-16. And there is the "cuernos de chivo" — Spanish for goat horns . . . the 30-shot curved banana clip of the AK-47.

The AK-47, long the symbol of guerrilla revolution, is not the most accurate or technical assault rifle, but it gets the job done. It is the workhorse of drug cartels, and ammunition can come from a variety of world sources, including the United States.

And then there are the sniper rifles.

"The .50-caliber was interesting because we haven't seen that type of arm used in Mexico yet," said Scott Stewart, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer and an analyst for Stratfor, a geopolitical security firm. The .50-caliber long-range sniper rifle is incredibly accurate and dangerous; a trained operator could kill a human being with a round from well over a mile away.

For criminal cartels like Los Zetas, greater firepower means greater influence in not only the drug trade; it has enabled them to infiltrate and threaten the entire power structure of Mexico. In December, the Mexican attorney general announced the arrest of Maj. Arturo Gonzalez Rodriguez for allegedly assisting Mexican drug trafficking organizations — allegedly for $100,000 a month.

The connection between the drug cartels and the Mexican army has given cartel leaders access to military grade weapons like the high powered Five-Seven semi-automatic pistols.

A favorite with the cartels, the Five-Seven has the advantage of being light: under 2 pounds, with a 20-round clip filled with bullets the cartels call "matapolicias' — "cop killers."

"The 5.7 x 28, armor piercing (AP) rounds are not available for sale to the general public and are probably coming from the Mexican military," said Stewart who has analyzed U.S.-Mexican border security issues for half a decade.

The drug-related murder rate in Mexico doubled in 2008 from just one year before, and as the violence escalates, the power of the drug cartels has destabilized Mexican authority to the point of threatening national security.

Last week Gen. Ã

And this surprises who? LOL Saw this comming.

So wouldn't it be cheaper for America to hire the drug lords to police our borders? I'm all for that! I bet they would do a better job.

I know you hate to hear it here but if drugs were legalized, quickly the drug lords would be out of business! Take out the criminal element and that problem is gone.

My solution is below. We've tried everything else! I saw a court discussion on this about 15 years ago. It was a PBS 5 part Special of about 1o hours of it. I was convinced after seeing what would happen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What if all drugs were legal?

by Harry Browne

The Drug Warriors' biggest argument against medical marijuana is that it's only the opening wedge in a movement toward total legalization of drugs. So, supposedly, we have to "nip it in the bud" - in the words of Deputy Barney Fife, the nation's first Drug Czar.

What if the Drug Warriors are right?

What if legalizing medical marijuana turned out to be the first step on a journey that ended in the outright repeal of every drug law? What would America be like?

Understandably, many Americans fear that with no drug laws, we would have hundreds of thousands of addicts, crack babies, children trying drugs, and other evils. But that's what we have now.

Let's assume the worst

If all drugs were legal, addicts would no longer pay black-market prices to criminals for drugs of questionable and dangerous origin. They would get drugs produced by legitimate pharmaceutical companies and pay market prices. They would no longer die from buying toxic drugs, and they would no longer have to mug innocent people to support their habits.

If all drugs were legal, addicts could seek help by going to doctors - no longer afraid of being prosecuted for their medical problems.

If all drugs were legal, criminal drug dealers would no longer be on our streets. They couldn't compete with the low, free-market prices for drugs sold at pharmacies.

If all drugs were legal, criminal drug dealers would no longer prey upon our children - any more than distilleries and breweries try to infiltrate schools to hook kids on alcohol. When I grew up in Los Angeles in the 1940s, the worst schools were safer than L.A.'s best schools are today.

If all drugs were legal, our government would no longer be dispensing propaganda that makes children want to try the forbidden fruit.

Reducing street violence

If all drugs were legal, our prisons would be emptied of hundreds of thousands of non-violent people who have never done harm to anyone else. No longer would over-crowded prisons cause truly violent criminals to be free on early release and plea bargains to terrorize the rest of us.

If all drugs were legal, law-enforcement resources would be available to fight violent crime, instead of being used to chase people who may harm themselves but are no threat to us.

If all drugs were legal, much of the street violence would end - as it did when Alcohol Prohibition ended - because gangs of thugs would no longer be fighting over drug territories.

If all drugs were legal, police corruption would diminish, because criminals could no longer use black-market drug money to gain immunity by subverting weak policemen.

If all drugs were legal, the government could no longer use the Drug War as an excuse to tear up the Bill of Rights and pry into your bank account, strip-search you at an airport, tear your car apart, monitor your e-mail, or seize your property without even charging you with a crime.

Why do we know this?

Why do I think America would be like this if all drugs were legal?

Because that's the way it was before the drug laws were passed. Yes, there were people whose lives were destroyed by drugs then - just as some people today destroy their lives with drugs, alcohol, financial mistakes, or various character weaknesses - but far fewer people lost their lives to drugs when they were legal.

And America's streets were peaceful.

Has America changed since then? Of course it has. But cause-and-effect relationships don't change. Force still begets force. Government programs still lead to unintended and destructive consequences.

Re-legalizing drugs would put a stop to those destructive consequences - end the criminal black market, end the violence, end the incentive to hook children, and end the production of toxic drugs that kill people.

We have to quit being afraid of the unknown, and instead recognize what we do know - that the Drug War is doing enormous harm to society.

If we care about our children, if we care about our cities, if we care about our country, we have to end the insane War on Drugs.

I know you hate to hear it here but if drugs were legalized, quickly the drug lords would be out of business! Take out the criminal element and that problem is gone.

I am not one to give into some things, but if they are going to let a dealer run over the border with 500 lbs of drugs and do nothing because it's not worth the hassel...yet will bust a kid for an asprin.....it's not a war on drugs. Legal or illegal there are people who are just determined to go this route no matter what you do. An alcoholic will drink sterno if push comes to shove. I'm tired of innocent people being the biggest victims of this while the criminals run free. Some can be saved but most know the percentage isn't good. Kids drink more when they know they aren't supposed to have it, but once most become legal the thrill is gone and many level out once they party a bit.

There's just so much you can control people with and only so many you can save ......

I am not one to give into some things, but if they are going to let a dealer run over the border with 500 lbs of drugs and do nothing because it's not worth the hassel...yet will bust a kid for an asprin.....it's not a war on drugs. Legal or illegal there are people who are just determined to go this route no matter what you do. An alcoholic will drink sterno if push comes to shove. I'm tired of innocent people being the biggest victims of this while the criminals run free. Some can be saved but most know the percentage isn't good. Kids drink more when they know they aren't supposed to have it, but once most become legal the thrill is gone and many level out once they party a bit.

There's just so much you can control people with and only so many you can save ......

People think if it's legal kids will use it. They will use it quicker if it's illegal!
Imagine no drug cartels at all. So many don't get it. I know if crack is legal I still ain't trying it!!

Just emptying the prisons and jails of pot people that had nothing like murder, rape, or anything violent in their cases would free up lots of cells for real convicts, like illegals!

People think if it's legal kids will use it. They will use it quicker if it's illegal!
Imagine no drug cartels at all. So many don't get it. I know if crack is legal I still ain't trying it!!

This was a tough sell for me at first.....but I'm sorry I do agree. I don't support abortion, but I also know people do it. I don't support people having children where all they get to do is watch them die a cruel death of starvation just because some think it's the right thing to do. They are confusing the mission. Wanna fix it or use it as an excuse?

Can you imagine what money we might loose if drugs weren't illegal? Right now, they are going to crack down on seat belts....they are short of revenue. Is that concern for the people or just a shortage of revenue? Don't have to be in an accident, commit a crime, anything.....People quit speeding and they find something else. Smokers are funding the care of all our children.....who do they really care about? I seriously don't believe they never want to fix ANY problem.....they just want the money to look like they do.


Just saw the ALIPAC COLD opinion on Obamas Aunt on FOX.....makes me wonder......the Muslims aren't all that off, if it takes chopping off a real hand to stop thefts. Obviously, reasonable and rational means go un-noticed. I am proud of this group and I know we have now or ever advocated this......question...are FAIR, NUMBERS, LOU or any of the rest gonna stand up with us? Or are we the new target?

ACTION ALERT! PLEASE JOIN IN!

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