Border Town Wars

My topic is about drug trafficking in the United States.

I have selected this topic because of the war that is going on in the southern border states. The main states are Arizona, Southern California, and Texas. Since the Mexican government has declared war on the cartels, there has been an influx of illegal drug trafficking. "The United States has much to gain by helping strengthen its southern neighbor and even more to lose if it does not."(Shirk, 2011).

This is true because if the Mexican state collapsed the United States would have a harder time controlling the 1,951 mile border which separates the two countries. The drug cartel violence also affects the communities surrounding the border. The United States in the largest consumer of drugs coming from Mexico and also a major part of the weaponry supplier to the cartels.I plan on refining my topic by identifying the source of most of where the drug trafficking comes from, which would be Mexico. The report will also have information based on what our government has been doing and what they plan on doing to prevent the drugs from entering the United States. The topic will also go over the main drugs that have been coming into the country.

The topic will also go over how much money is lost to the cartel when their drug loads are seized by American border patrol agents. Annual reports given on trafficking by the Drug Enforcement Agency. Drug trafficking violence is affecting the towns located on either side of the Mexican-American borderThe war on drugs will not stop until a reasonable solution is made. "Interdiction seizures may account for as much as 42 percent of total cocaine production; large seizures are made by the exporting Andean countries, by some of the transshipment nations (particularly Mexico), and by the U.S. Coast Guard and U.

S. Customs"(Keefer, Loayza, 2010). Even with all the interdiction that is used to prevent the infiltration of drugs into the country, drugs will still find their way into the country. The focus of this research will be on drug trafficking and how it is affecting the country and what the government will be doing to lessen the drug trade that has established itself in the southern sections of the country.The importance of stopping the drug trade relies on cooperation from the two countries that are at the forefront of the drug trade, the United States and Mexico. There are approximately forty five U.

S. and Mexico border crossings with three hundred thirty ports of entry (Hodge 2012). It is estimated that out of the 1,969 mile border that surrounds the south west states of the United States, the border patrol can only stop entries on 129 miles of land (Jeffrey 2011). That tells you how much more land is available for drug traffickers can use. Although most of that land is open it would be hard for the patrol agents to patrol those areas because, they would be miles away from help if ever injured on the job.According to the Drug Enforcement Agency in the last three years domestic arrests have totaled 95269 (DEA 2011).

This staggering amount of arrests in three years is all thanks to modern technology and the co-operations between the DEA, border patrol, and local authorities. The government is doing everything they can to prevent the drug trade from expanding. Advances in technology will help enable the D.E.A and Border Patrol agents to expand their searches with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS).

This advancement as well as the current issue tools the border patrol uses which are infrared cameras and night vision cameras, they are said to help reduce the border incursions caused by drug traffickers. Crimes associated with drug trafficking have escalated along border states such as Texas. There is no known deaths on the U.S. side of the border except for one Border Patrol agent. The crimes have been mostly on the Mexican side of the border where the drug cartels control the drug flow into the United States.

The need for drugs will always be constant and there will always be suppliers. With the constant threat of deaths spreading across the Mexican-American border, the D.E.A. and the Border patrol will be on the lookout using sophisticated means of identifying smugglers and those who threaten innocent civilians.