Topic Forum （1200 words）

Mexico Drug Trafficking

Organizations There is a lot of controversy about legal and illegal immigration and

effects it has on the United States. Before discussing the gang activity in

Mexico, I want to caution the reader that the information in this chapter

does not define the country ofMexico or all Mexicans, just as the street

gang activity in the U.S. does not define the country or all Americans.

However, due to the Mexican drug cartel activity, the violence along the

southern border and the intrusion of Mexican drug cartel activity into the

United States, candid remarks are necessary in order to fully understand

the connection between Mexican drug cartels, U.S. based prison and

street gangs.

Immigrants In a speech given by Steven Sample, President of the University of

Southern California in 2008 for the World Affairs Council in Los

Angeles, he cited how diverse the city ofLos Angeles was. President

Sample stated that Los Angeles has nearly 1,200 miles of freeways and

they are important arteries to the rest of the country and Canada. The

Los Angeles International Airport is the number one airport for origin

and destination in the United States. In 2007, the airport handled 62

million passengers and almost two million tons of cargo (Sample, 2008).

President Sample further stated that Los Angeles is an international

economic infrastructure with 10.4 million people from over 120

different cultures, 96 cradle languages, 600 different religious groups

and 49 foreign language publications. L.A. has more people ofMexican

decent than any city outside of Mexico, the largest Korean population

outside Seoul, Korea; the largest Japanese population outside Japan and

the largest Asian-American population in the country (Sample, 2008).

President Sample cited Jim Clifton, the CEO of the Gallup Organization,

the world’s leading pollster. According to Clifton, researchers have

proposed that it just took 1,000 individuals, inventors, scientists who

contributed to the United States to get this country far, far ahead of

Japan and Germany. This is why America is the world leader in

technology, medicine, business, telephony and science. What is

particular noteworthy is that of these individual American pioneers more

than half migrated from another country... they were in fact immigrants

(Sample, 2008).

Mexico I cite these facts here because of all the controversy surrounding the

immigrant issue. Immigrant populations can be stereotyped. The actions

of few can be used to describe entire populations. As of July, 2008 the

CIA reported the population of Mexico to be a little less than 405

Chapter 6 - Transnational Gangs

110 million people (CIA, 2008). Los Angles is a major business hub

with an infrastructure that is ideal for transport and travel for both legal

and illegal business.

With those thoughts in mind consider the issue of America’s drug

appetite. We will discover that this hunger drives the business for the

trafficking of illegal drugs and also provides business opportunities for

those who get involved. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has

suggested that approximately 90 percent of the illegal drugs that enter

America come through the southern U.S.-Mexico border. The Mexican

drug cartels supply contraband to the American public by camouflaging

their use by piggy backing transport on the same routes that immigrants

take. Sadly, the cartels fight each other for control of these routes.

Cartels There are a number of drug cartels operating in Mexico. We will

examine those that tend to impact the U.S. -Mexican border. They

include The Arellano-Felix Organization, known as the Tijuana Cartel,

the Carrillo-Fuentes Organization, known as the Juarez Cartel, the Osiel

Cardenas-Guillen Organization, known as the Gulf Cartel, and the

Guzman-Loera Organization, also known as the Sinaloa Cartel. Los

Zetas have developed into a drug cartel and there is a separate chapter

that will examine their impact on the U.S. (Refer to Los Zetas).

These cartels have geographically divided up turf in Mexico in order to

control drug trafficking routes through Mexico and into the United

States. What is at stake here? The answer is a consumer driven market

that is estimated to have an annual profit worth of 13.6 to 48.4 billion

dollars (Cook, 2007). Of course much of this money is sent outside of

the United States to be laundered through foreign banking systems. So

much money is at stake here that Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman leader of

the Sinaloa Cartel was named by Forbes Magazine on the World’s

Billionaires list, March 11, 2009, as one of the world’s richest men

(Forbes, 2009).

The Mexican government suggests there are seven major cartels working

in Mexico. Three of the larger cartels operate throughout much of

Mexico. They are the Gulf, Sinaloa and Juarez cartels. Law enforcement

anecdotal evidence indicates the Juarez Cartel operate in 21 Mexican

states with principal basis in Culiacan, Sinaloa; Monterrey, Nuevo Leon

and the cities of Ciudad Juarez and Ojinaga, Chihuahua; Mexico City;

Guadalajara, Jalisco; Cuernavaca, Morelos and Cancun in Quintana Roo.

The Sinaloa Cartel has been reported in 17 Mexican states and important

centers are located in Mexico City; Tepic, Nayarit; Toluca and

Cuautitlan, Mexico State and most of Sinaloa (Cook, 2007). However

the city ofNuevo Laredo across from Laredo, Texas has been a

traditional hot spot for cartel fighting between Los Zetas and the Sinaloa

Cartel.

The Gulf Cartel operates in 13 Mexican states with important operation

centers in the cities of Nuevo Laredo, Miguel Aleman, Reynosa and

Matamoros, Tamaulipas. The Gulf Cartel, although smaller in size, still

operates throughout Mexico; they have been reported in Nuevo Leon,

Monterrey and Morelia, Michoacan. The Tijuana Cartel has been

reported in 15 states and important operations centers located in Tijuana,

Mexicali, Tecate and Ensenada in Baja California and in parts of Sinaloa

(Cook, 2007).

There was a catalyst that most likely allowed the Mexican cartels to

come to power. It probably was the demise of Cali and Medellin Cartel

leadership in Columbia during the 1990s. In physics there is a saying

“that for every action there is a reaction.” When the Columbian Cartel

leadership fell that opened an opportunity for the trafficking of illegal

drugs to other groups. A logical direct route would be through Central

America and Mexico. This gave the somewhat “smalltime” Mexican

cartels an opportunity to expand their operations.

As the Mexican cartels gained power American and Mexican law

enforcement responded and a number of key cartel leaders were taken

into custody. When this happened, rival cartels attempted to move in and

take over the lucrative smuggling routes. Mid level leaders became

cartel leaders. It was this action that most likely caused the spike in

violence along the U.S.-Mexican border and throughout the country of

Mexico and has resulted in the death of 406

— Mexico Drug Trafficking Organizations

over 5 400 people in 2008 (CNN, 2009). Sadly, in 2008 alone more

people have been murdered

in the Mexican drug war than all the American military casualties in the

entire Iraq war; 4 260 casualties (icasualties.org).

Collateral Issues In addition to the brutal cartel drug battles there are a couple of other

factors to consider that may contribute to the instability and violence in

the country. Corruption continues to be a thorny issue for the Mexican

government. Even though the current administration has made gainful

strides in tiying to combat the corruption, the Mexican drug cartels have

an unlimited budget. No matter how much military or government

officials’ wages are raised the cartels have the ability to counter the

effort. Corruption issues have lead to arrest and investigations of top

level federal law enfoicement agents, military officials to local law

enforcement. This only demonstrates that everyone has a price under the

right conditions. Corruption also undermines the confidence of the

citizens in the government, judicial system and law enforcement.

Secondly, an often overlooked issue is the fact that street gangs exist in

Mexico as well as the cartels. Street gang membership can become a

recruitment pool for new cartel membership. So there are two issues to

deal with. Ignoring street gang activity while focusing on the violence

caused by the cartels could potentially lead to the formation of other

“junior cartels” that will work with or against the existing cartels or

against themselves. This could only end up with incieasing the violence

within the region. As street gangs evolve they also tend to become more

violent as gang populations increase in size and as rivalries develop

between gangs.

There are some anecdotal evidence that suggests street gangs operate

throughout most of Mexico. They appear to operate like many U.S.

based traditional Latino street gangs. No vertical leadership structure.

They tend to operate in specific geographical areas within a city or town.

The gang will use graffiti and hand signs to communicate. These gangs

tend to be involved in robberies, extortions, drug sales and even home

invasion type robberies. The money that is earned is often used to

purchase and use drugs. There is no data that can estimate the number of

street gangs or the membership is Mexico. There is some anecdotal

evidence that suggests for some street gang members there is a

developing relationship between Mexican prison gangs and the drug

cartels. This seems logical since the same types of relationships exist

between their U.S. counterparts.

Another issue to consider is the growing population of drug users and

addiction in Mexico. Again there is no data or academic research that

can provide an estimate on the number of adults and juveniles in this

population. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the drug use is increasing

throughout Mexico especially along the U.S. - Mexico border. A

growing population of addicts can only tax an already overloaded public

resource system. This population will also cause the demand for illegal

drugs in Mexico to increase. There are an estimated 200,000 addicts in

Tijuana, Mexico. In Tijuana there are over 20,000 little “tienditas” or

little shops where anyone can purchase drugs (San Pedro, 2009).

Cartels also take advantage of arms trafficking. The military grade

weapons that are being used by some cartels may have two points of

entry into Mexico. The obvious and most cited in the media and by law

enforcement is the United States. Straw purchases, stolen and illegally

sold weapons are smuggled into Mexico. These weapons can include

automatic assault rifles and high capacity handguns and according to

U.S. law enforcement approximately 90 percent of the weapons seized

from Mexican drug cartels come from the United States (Ellingwood

and Wilkinson, 2009). It has been suggested that astonishingly up to

2,000 weapons per day are smuggled from the United States into

Mexico. A November 2008 weapons seizure in Mexico and subsequent

analysts revealed that 90 percent ofthe arms originated from 11

American states (Johnson, 2009).

But there is a second portal arms travel through to enter Mexico. In the

overall picture it is seldom mentioned. Military grade arms, including

grenades, grenade launchers, anti-tank 407

Chapter 6 - Transnational Gangs

weapons, amour piercing rounds, bazookas, rocket propelled grenades

(RPGs) and 50 caliber sniper rifles can enter Mexico through the Central

American country of Guatemala. These weapons could be stolen and /or

left over arms from the civil wars in that region (Ellingwood and

Wilkinson, 2009). Anecdotal evidence has also suggested that a wide

sampling of the enhanced weapons have come from the international

arms bazaar, with grenades and launchers produced by U.S., South

Korean, Israeli, Spanish or former Soviet bloc manufacturers

(Ellingwood and Wilkinson, 2009).

Concurrent with the arms race are the expansion of the drug armies that

were initially formed to protect the cartels. These private mercenary

armies can employ military deserters, ex-state and federal police and

private citizens working for them. The two most known are Los Zetas

and Negros and they are rivalries. There is no accurate estimate for the

size of these security groups. It well understood that they are responsible

for much of the violence in Mexico and they outgun local and federal

police. To further compound the issue even though there more than

40,000 troops deployed throughout Mexico there have been 150,000

desertions from the military in Mexico during the past six years. Their

departure has affected military operations in the states of Chihuahua,

Guerrero, Sinaloa and Michoacan, all considered hot stops for cartel

activity. Soldier’s loyalty can be bought especially when they earn $196-

$229 per month (Rodriguez, 2009).

As noted with Los Zetas, drug armies can also evolve and become more

sophisticated. Los Zetas initially was formed to be the enforcement arm

of the Gulf cartel. In 2003 after the leader of the cartel, Osiel Cardenas

was arrested and extradited to the U.S.; Los Zetas continued to watch

over interests of the cartel. However by 2009, Los Zetas has evolved

into a drug cartel itself; still maintaining its connection with the Gulf

cartel and expanding its recruitment pool. Estimates place the

membership between 100 and 200. That does not include members

joining the cartel from U.S. based street and prison gangs. Or the

Mexican street gang members who join or the Mexican citizens who

assist the cartel or the ex-military members from the Guatemalan Special

Lorces.

Although drug cartel violence is encountered throughout Mexico the

main battle grounds appear to be the northern border cities of Tijuana,

Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Juarez. Add to this formula the presence of

more than 3,200 maquiladora plants with approximately one million

employees. These are factories that are able to use duty free materials

and components from foreign suppliers to manufacture finished products

like electronics, car parts and soft goods like textiles (NDIC, 2004).

These products are then returned duty-free back to the suppliers. Most of

these plants are located close to the U.S. -Mexican border; where much

of the cartel violence is occurring. Lor example, in 2003 the Ciudad

Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas there were nearly 200,000 employees

working in over 300 maquiladoras. The two largest maquiladoras in

Mexico are located in Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana (NDIC, 2004). Much

of the drug cartel violence has also occurred in these two cities where it

is common to find decapitated bodies.

In response to the violence Mexico sent more than 7,500 troops to the

Ciudad Juarez in early March, 2009. Preliminary reports suggest that

violence has decreased. But now the city is virtually under martial law.

This may have been a necessary remedy because the violence was

extreme and involved cartel attacks against federal military troops. Lor

example in Lebruary, 2009 a cartel cash with the army troops ended with

the death of 21 people after cartel members abducted local police. By the

early part of 2009, President Calderon had committed 45,000 troops

throughout Mexico to fight the drugs. With a total Army population of

roughly 200,000 this is a sizeable resource allocation (Cardona, 2009).

Transnational Characteristics Let’s examine the transnational nature of some Mexican drug cartels.

The violence is.not only in Mexico, some of it has spilled over into the

United States. Reports suggest that Mexican drug cartels operate in at

least 230 U.S. cities (Associated Press, 2009; CNN, 2009). The LBI 408

Mexico Drug Trafficking Organizations

confirms that at least 60 American citizens have been kidnapped into

Mexico. Many were taken directly from U.S. soil and smuggled across

the border. As the violence expands it even hits U.S. Federal agents. For

example, the Washington times reported in 2008 that a U.S. Border

Patrol Agent was held at gun point by people dressed as members of the

Mexican military who had crossed the boidei in Arizona. The so called

“Mexican soldiers’1 fled across the border as back up arrived for the

Border Patrol agent (Seper, 2009).

CNN leported that the city of Atlanta, Georgia has become a hub for the

distribution and the collection of drug monies for the Mexican cartels

(Mungin, 2009). The same article also reported how a victim was found

chained to a wall by his hands and feet in the basement of his Atlanta

home. The victim was gagged and beaten because he owed the cartels

money. He was a dealer operating in the Atlanta area (Mungin, 2009).

Another news article reported that the Federation, Gulf and Juarez

cartels operate in Illinois and an estimated 10 to 24 million drug proceed

dollars are sent back to Mexico each month (Meyer, 2009).

Phoenix, Arizona has become the “kidnap capital” for the United States.

Most of the kidnaps are a result of groups connected to the cartels that

simply cross the border and kidnap the victim then retreat south. These

groups are known as “baj adores” or take down crews that usually

operate in groups of five. In 2008, there were a reported 386

kidnappings in Arizona. This is more than any other U.S. city the vast

majority were drug cartel related. It is suspected that some kidnappings

never get reported to the police. Often the victims are drug dealers who

don’t want the police attention (CNN, 2009).

Some bajadores work directly for the cartels collecting money or acting

as enforcers. Other groups act as freelance mercenaries stealing drug or

human trafficking shipments from traffickers making them responsible

for the loss. The Phoenix Police Department also has reported that

cartels will levy a tax on Mexican drug dealers utilizing their trafficking

routes. This tax (el piso) can be up to $2,000 per week and $10,000 per

week for Chinese and Middle Eastern dealers (Conant and Camp-Flores,

2009). Other cartels have followed the lead.

The Tijuana cartel has been reported operating in 26 U.S. states;

Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia,

Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska,

Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma,

Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin

(NDIC, 2004).

The Juarez cartel has been reported operating in 27 U.S. states:

Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,

Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,

Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North

Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee

and Wisconsin (NDIC, 2004).

The Gulf cartel has been reported operating in 10 U.S. states: Alabama,

Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,

Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas (NDIC, 2004). Los Zetas one of the

newest cartels has been reported operating in three states, Arizona, New

Mexico and Texas.

The cartel expansion is not limited just to the United States. It is logical

to conclude that the cartels will also enter into Central America and

Canada as their drug business expands, if they are not already present.

The operation of U.S. street and prison gangs has already been cited in

both regions. Drugs and arms are smuggled into Canada from the United

States by outlaw motorcycle and street gangs.

The relationships are somewhat complicated between the Mexican drug

trafficking organizations and U.S. based outlaw motorcycle, prison and

street gangs. Some Mexican cartels have direct connections between

U.S. based street and prison gangs. Some U.S. based prison gangs also

have drug contacts with street and outlaw motorcycle gangs. Some

prison gangs also have multiple connections between different Mexican

drug cartels. A few street gangs become recruitment pools for the

Mexican drug cartels. The overlapping umbrella that connects all 409

Chapter 6 - Transnational Gangs

these groups is drugs, contraband and ultimately money. These groups

form business relationships to make money.

Money provides the most effective weapon any gang can use, that is

corruption. The Mexican drug cartels use this weapon efficiently and

with purpose. For example, in November, 2008 Noe Ramirez who was

the prosecutor in charge of the Organized Crime unit of the Mexican

Federal Attorney General’s office was charged with taking a monthly

bribe of $450,000 to pass information to the Sinaloa drug cartel. Six

other members of his unit face similar charges. The comments in this

chapter do not define Mexico or all ofthe people who live there. This

country is the world’s twelfth largest-economy and the United States

second biggest trading partner and an important oil supplier (Economist,

2009). The stakes in this country are enormous for both Mexico and the

United States.

Mexican drug cartels are drug traffickers and U.S. based gangs

become the major distributors. However, the instability in several regions in Mexico caused by the drug

cartels can have a lasting effect on the country and its citizens. For

example, in a 2007 survey the data suggested that 70 percent of the

crime goes unreported to the police. Mexico is a country of 32 states

each operating independently from the government, not totally

cooperative with the government or between each other. State governors

are often reluctant to comply with national requests. The local police

departments are designed to keep political peace not solve crimes and

there are over 1,600 municipal police forces in the country. The courts

and police do not do their jobs properly; and Mexican society and the

police do not work together (Economist, 2009).

Solutions? There is hope and President Calderon’s government is making some

progress. In June, 2008 a constitutional reform reorganized the courts

and police. A new law signed in January 2009 set up a new national

public security system. This law requires all national, state and

municipal police force to adopt uniform procedures for recruitment,

vetting, training, operations and promotions. Every policeman in the

country is supposed to be completely vetted. The federal police force has

been expanded from 9,000 (2006) to 26,000 officers. The government

has made extra funds available to local police forces. Another proposed

law is designed to update the judicial system and allow oral evidence

and move toward adversarial trials (Economists, 2009). 410

— Mexico Drug Trafficking Organizations This is a start, but it will take time, national effort and money to compete

with the cartel’s most effective weapon.

Suggested border security ideas have included talk about using the U.S.

military to secure the border. In effect this would shut down the border.

If that is done a couple of things could happen. There could be a domino

effect on the people who travel across the border for legitimate work.

Without the opportunity for U.S. employment the opportunity for

employment by the drug cartels could become more viable. Look at the

case of Santiago Meza in Tijuana. His nickname was the El Pozeleio

(the soup maker). When Mr. Meza was caught by the police he

confessed to dissolving the bodies of over 300 people in acid since 2000

on orders from drug cartels (The Economist, 2009). Mr. Meza was a

civilian employed by the cartels. There is already anecdotal evidence

that suggests cartels employ civilians and Mexican and U.S. street gang

members.

Possible solutions for border security can include completely shutting

down the border. This is not a long term solution. There are a number of

immigrants who are gainfully employed in the United States.

Immigrants send home remittances. In 2007 over 60 million dollars of

remittances were sent back to Latin America including Mexico (Mac

Harg, 2007). In 2008 the amount of remittances worldwide was

estimated at 240 billion dollars. The remittances seem to be decreasing

in 2008 due to the economic woes and less money is sent home. This

worries the Mexican government that matches the remittances 3 to 1 if

used for community projects (Time, 2008). Shutting down the border

would effectively stop the remittance flow back to Mexico. ’

With the prospect of no work in America job seeking Mexicans could

eventually be employed by the cartels. Not because they want to but

because in order to survive they have to. As cartels gain more and more

of an economic base they could become major if not the largest

employers in Mexico.

The U.S. -Mexican border should be kept open. It will good for

commerce for both countries. May a more controlled approach to border

security can work. For example to more effectively monitor cross border

traffic why not double the amount of entry points on both sides ofthe

border. This could provide much employment for citizens ofboth

countries. More portals means faster transit times between countries.

To further expedite movement between countries why can’t some form

of biometric identification be used and shared with vetted Mexican

counterparts. This would make legitimate travel across borders easy and

more easily monitored. Use U.S. Border patrol and ICE agents

collaboratively at the formal points of entry, concentrating their efforts.

To prevent unauthorized or re-entry into the United States use a

combination one to one Border Patrol-U.S. Army border interdiction

task force to guard the border areas between the formal points of entry.

Often local law enforcement can be cross designated to Federal law

enforcement task forces. Use the same procedure to cross designate U.S.

military to assist another Federal law enforcement agency. By doing so

resources like vehicles, technology and aircraft can be shared between

the military and Customs and Border Patrol agents. These teams could

focus on guarding the areas between the formal entry points between

Mexico and the U.S.

The caveat here is that on the opposite side of the border these Border

Patrol team would have a vetted Mexican counterpart engaged in the

same activity. Both sides of the border guarded vigorously forcing travel

between countries to well controlled tunneling points of entry. To make

this work travel through entry points should be coordinated between

countries so that there are no long lines with hours of waiting. This is

where biometric identification of individuals who regularly travel

between countries can be facilitated.

Also vehicle inspections could be performed on both side of the border.

This could be a double check system and again technology can used to

help prevent illegal crossings of humans and contraband. With more

border agents on both sides of the border more vehicles can be inspected

expeditiously. Traditional visual inspections and the use of canines can

further complement this process. More formal entry points means less

vehicles at each entry points. 411

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With increased personnel presence that could include military-Federal

agent teams more vehicles can be inspected.

At the World Trade Bridge located between Laredo, Texas and Nuevo

Laredo, Chihuahua, Mexico something similar could be done in order to

physically inspect more trucks entering and leaving the United States.

This in theory also could limit the amount of drugs entering the country

and limit the amount of drug cash and weapons smuggled back into

Mexico. Vehicles should be inspected coming to and leaving the United

States.

Another enforcement activity should be implemented. Roving teams of

ICE agents should be patrolling the areas adjacent to the formal points of

entry. They could be the secondary net that randomly checks vehicles

and individuals leaving the border area. Sort of like airline travelers

randomly selected to participate in secondary random screening before

boarding the aircraft. Why not have random secondary inspections of

vehicles going to and from border points of entry.

Collectively these interventions could help decrease the amount of

illegal drugs entering the United States; thus helping decrease the flow

of drugs through Mexico and ultimately decrease revenue going to the

drug cartels. Limiting the revenue cartels can earn will eventually

decrease cartel influence in Mexico by decreasing the amount of

corruption. Remember the cartels most powerful weapon is money.

These programs could also limit the amount of weapons travelling

across the borders assisting the Mexican government in deescalating the

arms race between cartels.

To fully impact the illicit drug and arms trade similar programs should

be implemented along the southern Mexican-Guatemalan -Belize

borders. Working internationally between countries, a coordinated effort

is need to insure total stability in Mexico. Don’t forget I mentioned the

physics principal earlier that for every action there is a reaction. We

should anticipate a reaction by the drug cartels and street gangs in

Mexico. Violence may initially increase or become present in areas

where cartels have not previously been established. We should anticipate

that cartels will attempt to develop alternate drug trafficking routes.

Logically this means there could be an increase in maritime smuggling

between countries. Also we should exclude activity on the Canadian-

U.S. border area. Mexican cartels could attempt to establish operational

centers in Canada in order to continue operations in the United States.

One other intervention may be helpful in the united fight against

Mexican drug cartel actively. It has been well documented that drug

cartels are diversifying into other types of criminal activity like

kidnapping and extortions. The U.S. and Mexico should be prepared to

monitor and investigate these types of crimes with specially trained law

enforcement- prosecution teams. There are also collateral crimes that

assist in arms and human smuggling and cartel criminal activity in both

countries; namely the false identification business. More resources are

needed to monitor, investigate and prosecute this type of criminal

activity.

I think there are enough laws in the Penal Code. However, the countries

of Canada, the United States and Mexico should collectively enact new

laws that are specifically designed for smugglers; aimed at any type of

smuggling between countries. This would include but not limited to

pharmaceuticals, illegal drugs, weapons, ammunition, human beings,

pirated soft goods, music CDs and movie DVDs, software and the

transport of large sums of cash, $4,000 or more. The caveat here is

smuggling and it does not have to be associated with any type of gang or

cartel activity. Enforcement and punishment of violators could deter

further such activity. The law should be written and adopted to that any

prosecutor’s office could charge the crime. That would empower federal,

state and local prosecutors giving a tri-level approach to smuggling. 412