The History of Gangs in Mexico
Mexico's gangs have flourished since the late 19th century, mostly in the north due to their proximity to towns along the U.S.-Mexico border. But it was the American appetite for cocaine in the 1970s that gave Mexican drug cartels immense power to manufacture and transport drugs across the border. Today, gang violence in Mexico, as these cartels battle for territory and supremacy in the drug trade, has spilled over in the United States.
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Origins
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Early Mexico gangs were primarily situated in border towns where prostitution, drug use, bootlegging and extortion flourished. These gangs are not to be confused with Mexican-American street gangs, which had focused on territorial control in early postwar Los Angeles and other urban centers.
Geography
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Mexican drug cartels extend their reach from Mexico to Central and South America. Columbia, the source of much of the cocaine exported to the U.S., is under control of South American gangs, but they must do business with the Mexican cartels to transport drugs north. The Northern Mexico gangs hold the most sway because the territory is the vital last link in trafficking. As a consequence the Arellano Felix gang of Tijuana, the Juarez organization in Ciudad Juarez, the West Coast-based Sinaloa consortium and the Reynosa-based Gulf Cartel are the most powerful.
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Drug Trade
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Virtually all of organized crime in Mexico involves drug trafficking across the U.S.-Mexico border by air or sea. Competition for drug routes and access to the product, primarily cocaine and marijuana, grew fierce by the late 1960s and early 1970s. By the early 1970s, the Mexican Mafia, a U.S. prison gang network based in California, began to engage in the trade, although their impact has not reached the heights of the major cartels.
Government Response
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In 2007, Mexico's police stepped up enforcement, crushing many gang cells responsible for 2,000 murders in 2006. However, increased enforcement also brought pitched battles between police and gang members into the public, such as on the streets of the beach resort town of Mazatlan.
Street gangs
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Mexico's street gangs are not unlike the U.S. urban gangs with the same goals of extortion, theft, robbery and drug sales. Yet the major difference is that many Mexican street gangs are at the bidding of the cartels to perform services, including intimidation and murder. The Mexican Mafia also utilizes low-level local gangs for these purposes.
Kidnap Gangs
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Outgrowths of the drug cartels are Mexico's kidnap gangs. More than 1,000 kidnappings were carried out in 2008, prompting an emerging cottage industry that provides security, bullet-proof vehicles and advance technology to thwart abductions. These kidnappings range from high-profile snatchings to opportunists seeking a quick cash infusion from the family of their victim.
Today
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A disturbing trend has developed over the past five years as competition has grown so deadly among drug gangs that violent battles against police, either who are cracking down on gangsters or themselves have become corrupt, leaving scores of lawmen dead. For the first time in modern Mexican gang history, these battles have extended into Texas, New Mexico and Arizona as gangs conduct raids against competitors and law enforcement.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Federal District of Mexico
