Juárez War Update: 10K Feds vs. Drug Cartels. Who’s ahead … and Why?

Gangland-style murders, now about seven per day just across the US border from El Paso, TX, continue unabated in Juárez, Mexico despite the presence of 7,500 soldiers and an additional 2,300 federal police officers. Simply stated, a total of 9,800 federal law enforcers have yet to slow the killings.

Here’s the update: June has already seen 130 new deaths. That adds up to 2,300 murders in the city in the past 18 months.

Howard Campbell, a University of Texas at El Paso anthropology professor-expert on the history of drug cartels in Mexico, told the El Paso Times that with cross-border drug smuggling increasingly difficult, Juárez street sales have risen in importance. The latest killings center on control of that splinter of drug income.

However, perhaps more importantly, the unrelenting murders despite soldiers working with Juárez police, highlight the issue of whether the Mexican military can effectively gain control over the war between the Sinaloa and Juárez drug cartels and the violence that envelopes their battle.

This month 2500 new soldiers rotated into the city. But Mexico’s influx of weaponry through Joint Operation Chihuahua is not working. The question arises: why can’t that 10K force manage to apprehend drug cartel members?

You have to wonder if they really want to.

Unquestionably drugs are a major part of Mexico’s economy. How can we doubt that profits from illegal drug trading flood into many arenas of Mexican life — including politics and business?

Perhaps that is why soldiers and police can’t beat the drug cartels. Maybe too many important people don’t want them to.

Meanwhile, the citizenry suffers–on both sides of the border, but most especially in Juárez.

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