Mexico, a hub for money laundering, still the main foreign supplier of drugs to the U.S.
March 3rd, 2010 - 4:23 pm ICT by BNO NewsWASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — Mexico is still a big hub for money laundering and the main foreign supplier of drugs to the U.S., a report from the U.S. State Department revealed.
The 2010 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) stated that approximately 90 percent of cocaine destined for the U.S. flows through Mexico from its origins in South America.
Mexico also remains a hub for money laundering. It is estimated that annual gross revenue ranges between $15-30 billion from illicit drug sales in the U.S. Most of these proceeds are returned from the U.S. primarily through bulk currency shipments and laundered through legitimate Mexican businesses.
It is estimated that 3.5 million Mexicans have used narcotics and that nearly 600,000 have become dependent drug consumers, according to the U.S. report.
CARTELS WELL-ARMED
The report says the drug cartels are well-armed and well-funded. They employ advanced military tactics and utilize sophisticated weaponry such as sniper rifles, grenades, rocket-propelled grenades and even mortars in attacks on security personnel.
Mexican cartels combine threats of violence with promises of financial gain (“plata o plomo”) to influence law enforcement and government officials.
THERE WERE “SUCCESS” IN 2009
In 2009, Mexican law enforcement saw a number of successes during the year in methamphetamine seizures and drug-related arrests, according to the report.
Mexican law enforcement arrested or detained 36,332 persons (versus 28,650 in 2008). This total included a number of high-profile members of the Mexican cartels including Arturo Beltran Leyva, Carlos Beltran Leyva, Miguel Angel Soto Parra, Vicente Carrillo Leyva, Vicente Zambada Niebla, and others.
DRUG CULTIVATION INCREMENT
Drug cultivation rose significantly in 2009 according to U.S. government agencies’ estimates. Opium poppy cultivation more than doubled to 15,000 hectareas as of September 2009 from 6,900 in 2008—the highest level of production ever estimated in Mexico and all of Latin America combined.
Cannabis production increased 35 percent to 12,000 hectareas from 8,900 in 2008—the highest level since 1992 as drug cartels are intended to diminish reliance on foreign suppliers of product.
The report says drugs are produced in remote areas of Mexico where detection and eradication are difficult because the government of President Felipe Calderon has a minimal presence there.
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- Mexican federal police arrest drug kingpin Edgar Valdez Villareal - Aug 31, 2010
- Mexican league offers to cooperate in money laundering probe - Aug 21, 2012
- Mexico Navy arrests suspected drug kingpin - Sep 13, 2010
- Police arrest top drug trafficker at Mexico City airport - Dec 29, 2011
- First woman joins Mexican navy's special forces - Dec 12, 2011
- Mexican prison director removed after allowing Botox injection on high-profile inmate - Feb 03, 2011
- Mexican gangs using kids to smuggle drugs to US - Jan 09, 2012
- Mexican Police Captures Drug Kingpin Edgar "La Barbie" Valdez Villarreal - Aug 31, 2010
- Former Governor of Mexican State extradited to the US for involvement with the Juarez Cartel - May 11, 2010
- Mexican marines capture son of Sinaloa drug cartel leader - Jun 22, 2012
- Mexican Drug lord's wife gives birth to twin babies - Sep 27, 2011
- Mexican drug cartel queen has Botox in prison - Feb 02, 2011
- Nine charred bodies found in Mexico - Nov 24, 2011
- Severed head left at tomb of Mexican drug lord - Jan 19, 2010
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