Cocaine-stuffed Sharks and the US-Mexico Drug Trade

Given the mounting tensions abroad, especially in Iran, it may be easy to lose sight of the problems on our own borders. While a vast majority of American media attention has been focused on stories breaking in the Middle East and Asia, violence has continued to escalate in Mexico, as cartels battle with each other to corner the lucrative drug market.

This morning, BBC reported that Mexican authorities discovered over a ton of cocaine had hidden inside the carcasses of more than 20 frozen sharks being shipped to the US. The Mexican Navy also announced that they shut down one of the largest methamphetamine ever discovered in the country, a remote facility with enough chemicals to produce over 40 tons of the drug (about 309 million doses).

Both busts are part of an ongoing battle related to the drug trade in Mexico, as cartels become increasingly violent in their efforts to capitalize on high demand for drugs in the United States. Drug-related violence has claimed over 2,700 lives in Mexico thus far in the year, mirroring the increased violence last year that led to about 6,300 deaths.

Much of the violence is concentrated in border towns such as Juarez, Mexico, just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. In December 2008, Marisella Molinar, who lived in El Paso but worked in Juarez, was killed as she drove her boss. She was less than one mile from the US border when cartel members opened fire on the car she was driving, killing her and her boss, a prosecutor the cartels were targeting.

However, violence doesn’t necessarily stop at the border. As the drug war intensifies, the possibility of violence spilling into the United States increases. In fact, violence associated with the Mexican drug trade could pose a greater threat to US domestic security than Al Qaeda or other jihadist terrorist groups. Individuals working for Mexican cartels are already heavily armed, accustomed to violence, and able prepared to blend into the American public with ease, a combination of factors that could prove uniquely dangerous.

As cartels continue to battle control for market share and smuggling channels into the United States, the threat of serious violence in America increases daily. The US Government has authorized $1.6 billion to the Meridia Initiative (PDF), an effort designed to fight drug production and drug and weapon trafficking, but the funding has yet to produce any discernible results.

As the drug wars escalate, a mercurial trade fueled by American money and American demand for drugs seems finally poised to pose a threat to American domestic security. While the future of this vicious struggle remains unclear, this imminent danger may finally inspire the US government to play a key role in suppressing drug-related violence.