The question has been asked many times - "Does organized crime and government embrace at any level?" When an entire hemisphere is engulfed by a massive saturation and fluid movement of illicit drugs and contraband, answers must be demanded.
A continuing intrinsic investigation and analysis of
organized criminal activity allows for more far reaching control of a crime war
that follows a comprehensive and multi-national one-way transit route north and
into the United States.
How must these nations combat the high levels of
organized crime, institutional corruption, drug cartel activity, and massive
violence and death?
Identifying the most pressing problem is the common
denominator, albeit many additional sinister tentacles radiate like an
earthquake from this most crucial issue.
The issue is not drugs themselves or other criminal contraband. The US and Latin America have been obsessed
with seizure of commodity for far too long as the main priority. Much of that
is due to the immediate impact - it is exciting, visible, and appeases some
that feel they are getting something for their money invested in a so-called
drug war.
Success in this war against organized crime in this
hemisphere should not be judged or measured by the number of narcotics'
seizures, but by primarily targeting those who profit in massive and handsome
abundance.
In the US alone, Mexican drug trafficking organizations
have easily infiltrated major cities nationwide using additional violent gangs
as proxies to perform for them. The huge
amounts of cash flows back, out of the country, to the higher level benefactors
that pay off police, military, border officials, and other government officials
as the traditional right-of-passage to operate on such a high level with such
relentless impunity.
Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom recently said it best
as he told reporters that drug gangs were "invading" Central America
to move contraband from South America, through Central America, and into the
US. Too, he stated, "These
individuals were not just preparing to confront our security forces; they were
preparing to take control of the country."
Conspiracy laws sighting all of the participants with a
euphemistic bull's eye on their backs was the most proactive and strategic
instrument ever designed to hunt organized criminals. These laws allow for the holding of all
players culpable at all levels, regardless if they know of each other's
existence; or whether or not they see or touch the contraband.
Conspiracy laws are not isolated from power, wealth, or
respectability, and in fact they can and do target businessmen, politicians,
and diplomats. Los Zetas, in Guatemala
alone, have been accused of rampant attempts to payoff political candidates;
kidnapping and extortion; and plain torture and murder. It has been reported that in 2010 57.7 percent
of the country's murders occurred in and around Guatemala City.
Mexico like Guatemala is faced with much more than simply
contraband seizures, but too with creating and sustaining responsive, capable,
and durable law enforcement institutions for the long haul. This obviously is no easy goal against a
superiorly trained enemy with billions of dollars in profits and sophisticated
armaments to protect it.
A more comprehensive strategy that coordinates the efforts
of several U.S. federal agencies at various levels is a key ingredient that is
capable of waging war with superior intelligence gathering (a major component
against organized crime) for interdiction participants.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who has to continually
defend his rationale for the use of the military in this war to take back the
nation from organized crime, realized wisely that the use of the military for
much of the internal security of Mexico was critical to match or surpass the firepower
and expertise by this paramilitary-style of insurgents.
The US is quickly realizing the potential need in the
same manner for its southern border.
Calderon's frustrations have been echoed by those
sheepishly suggesting an explicit truce with the gangs as a practical way to
make criminal groups more defensive and less violent, and thus create a safer
Mexico. Calderon even somewhat
sarcastically threatened to seek the legalization of drugs without more help from
the US.
With what seems like a Mission Impossible answer for the
short or long term, wise government officials know that this has escalated far
beyond drugs. The mass murders of
migrants, tortured and killed and thrown into pits; human and sex trafficking;
and rampant kidnapping for ransom and extortion are exciting alternatives for
organized criminals. After all, it is
about them and their quest for the big payoff.
And they must also pay off to stay in this blood generating business.
**Jerry Brewer is C.E.O. of Criminal Justice
International Associates, a global threat mitigation firm headquartered in
northern Virginia. His website is
located at http://www.cjiausa.org/.