Sam Amico
Ongoing cartel activity has Mexico being called “one of the most violent” countries on the planet by worldwide security service Global Guardian, and perhaps even the most violent — period.
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“The drug war in Mexico is one of the most violent conflicts on the planet, with cartel activity permeating through many levels of the Mexican economy and society,” a report published by Global Guardian read. “Cartel conflicts continue to drive violence across Mexico, including tourist areas previously less affected.”
Police in Mexico reported a string of 16 homicides in two days earlier this month in Juarez. At the time, security experts indicated that they don’t expect the violence and carnage to stop anytime soon.
Some of those killed have been beheaded, a sign of cartel-related activity. That aid, some of the violence in Mexico is considered the result of issues in other countries making their way to North America.
“The gang warfare has gotten out of control […] no one group is in charge in Haiti. You end up with multiple actors competing for territory, control of revenue, criminal activities, drug and human trafficking,” said Michael Ballard, director of intelligence for Global Guardian, via KTSM in El Paso, Texas. “In Venezuela, there is so much corruption, there’s so much lawlessness.”
Mexican cartels often are at war with each other as they fight over ways to smuggle drugs into the United States, Ballard added.
“Most of the violence is driven by competition for those drug revenues,” he said. “Some groups may not own the actual meth, cocaine or fentanyl but they control the routes they are coming through and are able to extract a toll, so to speak, and maybe you have some folks who don’t want to keep paying this tax and that’s when you get the fighting and the shooting.”
The result of the cartel war seems to be making Mexico a little more dangerous for tourists as well.
“You go to Cancun, you want to make sure you stay in the resort property. Tulum is the most obvious example where you see violence erupt as people are fighting for the street retail sales of the drug trade, folks who are selling drugs to tourists,” Ballard said. “That’s a change we’ve seen in the past couple of years. […] We are not saying don’t go to Mexico; we are saying, be careful if you do.”
