Mexican DTO’s Vs. Colombian DTO’s

Drug trafficking organizations (DTO’s) are complex groups with powerful structures which produce, transport, and supply illicit drugs across countries. They operate against the law of the United States which has prohibited drug trafficking. Trafficking involves use of weapons and violence which pave the way for other crimes like warfare thus promoting insecurity and economic deterioration in the involved states. The organizations are paramilitary and they use armed fighters to protect their drugs from the first stage of growth till the final products are delivered. Mexican DTO’s are the major trafficking organizations which are a threat to the United States. Statistics show that Mexican DTO’s supply illicit drugs to over 230 cities in America. Colombian DTO’s are another threatening drug organizations. These groups established unique transportation methods and they managed to build a strong bond with the local gangs, thus gaining a lot of control in the US market. However, Mexican DTO’s are gaining control over the market recently, thus the competition for states and territories between the two organizations is so stiff thus leading to increased violence. This paper will discuss the differences and similarities between the Mexican  and Colombian DTO’s in terms of organizational structures, membership diversity, market, product distribution, use of power and control, logistics, and financing.

The Mexican and Colombian drug cartel’s workers are a significant asset in the organization. However, these people differ according to their level of education. Their education is not formal, but it is focused on how well one can perform in a certain trade. Most workers and executives work their way up from the bottom through experience. Those with the least experience operate on the low level of doing small deliveries locally. El Chapo Guzman, a leader of Mexico’s DTO dropped out of school in third grade. He struggled to read and write in his adulthood and even had a personal assistant who could help him write letters to his lovers (Walker, 1996). However, he was a very successful cartel. Similarly, the Colombian drug cartel, Pablo Escobar, received little formal education, but he was successful in the drug industry. Therefore, both organizations select their leaders according to their abilities to maximize profits without the risk of being caught. Leaders should also be risk takers and effective planners as the chances of death are very high.

Both Mexican and Colombian DTO’s target to sell their products in the United States. These drugs are grown and processed in Mexico and Colombia and later distributed to the United States through different trafficking routes and undetectable transportation methods.  Colombia used to dominate the American market for two decades through drug distribution. They were successful because they established a good relationship with the local gang, thus making drug distribution easy. Multi-billion Colombian drug organization’s defeat contributed to decline in Colombia’s superiority over the Mexican DTO’s. In the same way, Mexico’s DTO market their products in the United States cities. According to Bosworth & Collins (2002), Mexican DTO’s are the biggest suppliers of Heroin and Cocaine with methamphetamines in the US thus superseding Colombia. They have managed to maneuver as the major drug distributors in the US market through manipulation of law in Mexico thus escaping the government’s measures to eradicate the Mexican cartels. This has led to increased violence between the Mexican and Colombia organizations fighting for market territories and states.

Both Mexican and Colombian DTO’s get their revenue from the drug distribution and control of territories. Mexican DTO’s control the borders and small scale drug distributors are forced to pay tax to cartels in order to be allowed access. When they refuse to pay tax, they are killed thus imposing fear on the other tax payers (Walker, 1996).  Colombian DTO’s work with domestic gangs both in Columbia and the US who help them to charge taxes from the street drug dealers. Drug distribution brings large profits to traffickers and their trade involves the use of cash to avoid suspicions by the government. They later lander their money into legal businesses which drains the company economically and can cause great financial loss to the local banks. The money is also spent on paying the distributors, hiring contractors, bribing the government officials, and purchasing of equipment in preparation for war to protect their stocks. Some cartels also use the money to give back to the society and help the poor. For example, Progbar Escobar used some of his money to build slums which could house the homeless.

Both Mexican and Colombians DTO’s possess power and control towards the people and the government in order to manage their illegal businesses. The Mexican cartels advance their operations through corruption and bribing the government officials and they had previously tried to overpower the Colombian government. The police, city municipals, and states work together with the drug cartels to make deals which lead to mutual benefits to both parties. Pax Mafioso is the most popular form of corruption in Mexico. This is where a politician turns a blind eye on a drug cartel in exchange for fame and votes. In the year 2008, an operation was done to identify and eject corrupt officials from power and it led to some being arrested for selling critical government information to the cartels. Similarly, the Colombia drug dealers occupy the position of the government in many instances. The cartels have used their wealth to purchase weapons, form militia groups and bribe the government officials. If this is not controlled, the cartels influence might grow more powerful and it is difficult for the government to control their political influence. The former Colombian president, Virgilio Barco Vargas, referred to drug traffickers as the mortal enemies of democracy (Walker, 1999).

Even though Mexican and Colombian DTO’s have a lot of similarities, they also have their differences. First, Colombian DTO’s are organized into Hierarchical command structure while Mexican DTO’s are organized into an independent system of decentralized system. Mexico’s DTO’s distributes duties amongst its workers, uses unique communication techniques, use of advanced security, and uses violence and threats to organization members in order to secure their territories. Also, Mexican cartels kidnaps popular people and assassinate innocent people publicly to pass a message to the government. This increases their fame as they are feared by both the people and the government. Mexico has emerged superior lately due to rampant corruption made possible by drug money.  On the other hand, Colombian’s DTO’s structures are hierarchical which range from the executives to the street dealers. They use their illicit money to invest in highly profitable legal businesses. The organizational structure of Mexicans is superior to that of the Colombians thus leading to victory by the Mexican DTO’s and they have recently dominated most cities and territories that were previously owned by Columbian DTO’s (Bagley, 1988).

While Colombian cartels are interested in fame and sovereignty, the Mexican cartels are only interested in cash. Colombia’s main rebels FARC led the Guerilla war in the name of Marxist ideology. The movement was controlled by drug cartels in Columbia who wanted to overthrow oligarchy and take over. According to Thuomi (2002), the movement took money from coca producers and traffickers to fund the insurgency and later started their own labs in partnership the traffickers. Escobar used his money to build fields, building houses and giving to the poor. This made him popular and people saw him as a man of the people thus making him a great threat to the government. This attracted the attention of the government and it was the start of his failure. On the other hand, Mexican cartels aim at trading their products without any interference from the authorities. In most cases, traffickers manipulate the police and the mayors. They apply bulling and blackmailing to transport their products which has given them power. However, the Mexican cartels do not aim at owning schools, cleaning the streets or building roads. They do not form rebel movements and their violence is directed to their fellow gangs and not the government. This has led to rapid growth in the Mexican DTO’s because they are less threatening to the government thus facing less threats and opposition.

Mexican DTO’s distribute their products directly into the USA while Colombian DTO’s distribute their products indirectly through different routes. Mexican use the scouts of the use army when reporting border movement using solar radios and then report back to the US government if the border is clear or not. According to Bosworth & Collins, (2002), the Mexican DTO’s wait for the scouts to report to the government and if the way is clear, they run across the border into the United States. Also, they use tractors which have ramps and shock absorber to enable them to carry heavy tones of drugs. This enables another truck carrying the drugs to cross the border without touching the border fence to avoid raising any suspicions. This operations take place mostly at night. On the other hand, Colombia products follow different routes before going into the US cities. The products pass through Mexico and the Central America where they finally get to the USA through the Mexico border by the Mexican DTO’s. This is also a contributor to the ongoing failure of Colombians cartels.

Drug trafficking is a threatening global issues which has many negative effects on countries. They promote crimes and war in the countries involved. Economic deterioration is also a major problem caused by drug trafficking. This is because the profits are used to invest in big businesses like real estates and the banks end up in big loses because they cannot account for the money. Drug addictions has also led to many deaths and increased cases of insanity. Therefore, the governments of the countries involved should combine efforts to combat the illicit drugs trafficking through seizing the drugs cartels because most organizations cannot run successfully without their leaders. This will help to prevent more damages in the future and protect the future generation from drug addictions.

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Walker. (1996). Drug in the Western Hemisphere: An Odyssey of Cultures in Conflict.

            Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources Inc.

Bagley, M. (1988). Colombia and the War on drugs. United States: Council on Foreign

            Relations.

Bosworth B, & Collins, S. (2002). Coming Together: Mexico- U.S Relations. United States:

            Brookings Institution Press.

Thoumi, F. (2002). Illegal Drugs in Colombia: From Illegal Economic Boom to Social Crisis. United Nations University Press.