After exploring the recent death of Mexico's antinarcotics chief, I decided to explore where much of the funding for Mexican drug cartels comes from. The latest killing of Edgar Millan Gomez (see my previous blog post) has now been linked to a Sinaloan drug cartel (see: NY Times article) and occurred shortly after several of its members were arrested by Millan Gomez.
I found two intriguing maps in the University of Texas at Austin's Perry-CastaÑeda Library Map Collection. Both are from a 2001 Drug Enforcement Agency report detailing the cultivation of illegal drugs in Mexico. The map on the top shows the cultivation of cannabis; the map on the bottom shows poppy growth.
The states with the highest cultivation rates, Sinaloa (upper-left), Guerrero (bottom left), and Michoacan (bottom left, next to Guerrero) are also the homes of Mexico's most notorious drug cartels, such as Los Negros from Sinaloa. Michoacan is also the home of Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, and the sight of recent drug battles.
Thus, Mexican drug cartels produce significant quantities of marijuana and heroin, which are then shipped to the world's largest consumer of illegal drugs , the United States. Notably, most of the cocaine in the U.S. is produced in South America (Colombia, Bolivia, Peru) and then funneled through Mexico in conjunction with local cartels.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
