Please find attached several documents that discuss drug trafficking operations as related to Mexican "cartels" or drug trafficking organizations.

In particular, two attachments from Drug Trafficking Update discuss in general terms the organization of Mexican drug "cartels": the first details an interview with the president of the Sonora Penal Science and Criminology Institute (Jan. 1995, 4-5), and the second reports the presence of Mexican traffickers in the Peruvian jungle (Aug. 1993, 4-5).

The latter document states that in November 1992 five organizations with "solid alliances with Colombian traffickers" reportedly controlled Mexican drug trafficking: cartels from Juarez, Tijuana, the Gulf of Mexico, and the states of Sinaloa and Jalisco (ibid., 5).

The attached interview indicates that "the most important cartels have been forming in northern Mexico, in Matamoros, in Ciudad Juarez, in Culiacan, the largest cities in the area" (Jan. 1995, 5). The source adds that these groups are extremely violent, and "simultaneously grow and market illegal drugs and become the vehicles for South American cartels to introduce drugs into the United States" (ibid.). Adding that marijuana and poppy crops are extensive in the northeast and central part of Mexico, the source further states the following:

A year ago the cartels were marked by a "fratricidal" struggle aimed at controlling drug trafficking toward the United States. But it seems that the rules of the game have changed and a new type of trafficker is emerging (ibid.).

This new trafficker has a different profile, similar to that of a businessman. They have little interest in ostentatious display or weapons and view the drug trade as one business among many (ibid.).

Another attachment which profiles in some detail the Mexican drug cartels is a Washington Post article of 12 March 1995. The document states that

Mexican narcotics organizations, which sprang up as franchises of the Colombian cocaine cartels, are now viewed by U.S. and Mexican authorities as independent entities that maintain business ties with other criminal organizations but are now strong enough to operate on their own (ibid.).
The same source states that Mexican cartels

... have built a financial empire using the country's booming tourist industry and stock market, converting billions of dollars in drug profits into legitimate forms of capital that are integral to Mexico's financial health (ibid.).

The article reports that the Mexican organizations "depend on protection from members of government, police and the judiciary," and that their consolidation and expansion of alliances with Asian and European trafficking organizations may lead to the former's eventual challenging of the power and influence of the Colombian cartels (ibid.).

The Mexican cartels have reportedly recruited gangs of young men, mostly Salvadoran, who provide "armed protection and muscle in the United States, Mexico and Central America, while helping to smuggle narcotics" (ibid.). In order to enter Asian and European markets, the Mexican and Colombian cartels have reportedly "forged close ties with the Italian Mafia and other organized crime branches around the globe" (ibid.).

Other attachments also discuss Mexican cartels in the context of international drug trafficking and Mexican drug interdiction, linking the Mexican cartels to foreign criminal organizations and to Mexican police and other state institutions. The attached
Current History article on international drug trafficking contains only two passing references to Mexico on pages 209 and 210, but discusses how international trafficking operates at international and local levels around the world (May 1995, 207-11).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Current History [Philadelphia]. May 1995. Rensselaer W. Lee III. "Global Reach: The Threat of International Drug Trafficking."

Drug Trafficking Update [Lima]. January 1995. "Region: Neoliberalism, Drugs and Political Violence."

_____. August 1993. "Peru: Mexican Drug Traffickers."

Washington Post. 12 March 1995. Tod Robberson and Douglas Farah. "Mexican Cartels Expanding Role in Trafficking." (Mexico NewsPak [Austin, Tex.], 13-26 Mar. 1995, pp. 10-11)

Attachments

Austin American-Statesman [Austin, Tex.]. 22 May 1995. Juanita Darling. "Suspect Implicates Tijuana Cartel in Slayings of Cardinal, Official." (Mexico NewsPak [Austin, Tex.], 8-21 May 1995, pp. 1-2)

Current History [Philadelphia]. May 1995. Rensselaer W. Lee III. "Global Reach: The Threat of International Drug Trafficking," pp. 207-11.

_____. February 1993. Kate Doyle. "The Militarization of the Drug War in Mexico," pp. 83-88.

Drug Trafficking Update [Lima]. January 1995. "Region: Neoliberalism, Drugs and Political Violence," pp. 4-5.

_____. August 1993. "Peru: Mexican Drug Traffickers," pp. 4-5.

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 11 May 1995. "Zedillo's War on Drug Corruption," p. 2.

_____. 30 March 1995. "Mexico: Priests and Drugs," p. 8.

_____. 19 January 1995. "Speed Reaches Mexico," p. 6.

_____. 29 April 1993. John Ross. "Mexico Contends With Its Own 'Golden Triangle'," p. 4.

_____. 29 April 1993. John Ross. "Mexican Grassroots Network Fighting Abuse," p. 4.

_____. 4 March 1993. "Drug Corruption on the Rise," p. 7.

Los Angeles Times. 27 April 1995. Sebastian Rotella. "19 Airstrips Found in 'Cocaine Corridor'." (Mexico NewsPak [Austin, Tex.], 24 Apr.-7 May 1995, p. 10)

New York Times. 14 May 1995. Tim Golden. "A Police Whistle-Blower Pays a Price in Mexico." (Mexico NewsPak [Austin, Tex.], 8-21 May 1995, p. 3)

San Antonio Express-News [San Antonio, Tex.]. 15 February 1995. Carmina Danini. "Lethal Gas Allegedly Used Against Mexican Official." (Mexico NewsPak [Austin, Tex.], 13-26 Feb. 1995, pp. 9-10)

The Washington Post. 12 March 1995. Tod Robberson and Douglas Farah. "Mexican Cartels Expanding Role in Trafficking." (Mexico NewsPak [Austin, Tex.], 13-26 Mar. 1995, pp. 10-11)