[Richard]

Originally Posted by mark46th

I personally think the narcotraficantes have infiltrated all levels of the Mexican Government and Military. They are the de facto government of Mexico...

It's not just Mexico. Here's the unclas version of a sub-topic portion of a paper - THE 21ST TAACOM’S POLITICAL-MILITARY ENVIRONMENT - our office in the 21st TAACOM presented to USACAPOC in Feb 1993.

(Slide 11) NARCOTICS

And then there is the problem of narcotics, a problem we’re all aware of and one that we will only mention here briefly. Of concern to our operations are the high crime patterns that are associated with drugs—theft, especially of items that are easily converted to cash money; crimes of violence; an undermining of legitimate government and law enforcement agencies; and a burgeoning threat to both national governments and entire societies—narcoterrorism. The allure and power of drugs is a growing problem, and the monetary and physical pressures the drug-producing and trafficking groups can bring to bear on governments, societies, and security agencies is, indeed, formidable.

Drugs contribute to a whole range of social problems that needlessly drain shrinking national resources. According to the results of a recent EC commission, over 50 percent of the crimes now committed in Europe are drug-related. In France, approximately 86 percent of all crimes committed in 1990 were drug-related, and the problem is growing. It is now estimated that Europe receives about 60 tons of illegal drugs annually. European anti-crime forces claim that the powerful drug lords are now viewing Europe as their main target for their illegal trade because American law enforcement and customs agencies have become—for the time being--increasingly effective in hampering major distribution routes into the United States. European security forces are now seeking American help to combat the growing drug problems in Europe. There are now American Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) offices in Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, and Spain, and agents serving in an advisory capacity are attached to most embassy and consular staffs. Russian anti-drug agents are now attending seminars in America to help them in their efforts to stem the growing tide of drug-related problems in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) that has replaced the former Soviet Union. Drug related deaths annually number in the tens of thousands in Europe. Drug related deaths in Germany, for example, have doubled in just the past year, and French President Francois Mitterand recently stated that the largest drug lords now wield power equaling that of many nation states. For a Europe now undergoing a period of such dramatic social, political, and economic changes, the threat of narcoterrorism to undermine governmental authority and terrorize citizens, organizations, and societies is an alarming and growing threat to our allies on whom we depend for so much support, to our forces based overseas, and to our ability to execute our wartime plans and missions.

I fear the influence of the narcoterrorists reach even deeper than they did then...and not just in Mexico or the Americas.

And so it goes...

Richard