The Mexican Army as Cartel

PATRICK O'DAY

University of Texas-Pan American

This article deals with one of the least examined aspects of smuggling along the U.S./Mexico border: the role of the Mexican army as a major player in the traffic of drugs into the United States. It is hoped that this study will help to eliminate a lacuna in our understanding of organized criminal activity south of the border. It will do this by examining the chaotic conditions obtaining along the Mexican side of the border due to the breakup of the Matamoros cartel and the consequent functional necessity of the Mexican Army's stepping in to assure safe and unimpeded drug shipments into the United States. In addition, it will be demonstrated that the antidrug role of the military in combating the drug trade is a necessary adjunct to its role as a major trafficker in drugs. Finally, it will be argued that the administration's policy of ignoring Mexican military corruption as well as its incursions into U.S. territory is counterproductive in terms of effectively curtailing the drug trade, that it lends itself to the militarization of Mexican society, and that ultimately it threatens harmonious international relations with Mexico by encouraging an increasingly aggressive military presence along the U.S. border.