Cause and Effect? -- Border Defenses and the Mexican Drug War

Cause and Effect?
Border Defenses and the Mexican Drug War

Lou Dobbs Tonight -- CNN -- December 29

Miles of Border Fences and Barrier Construction (left axis)... and Drug-Related Deaths in Mexico (right axis) -- 2005 through 2008 // See larger image

Casey Wian (CNN): Too common in Mexico these days are gruesome images such as this. The bodies of 12 men, nine of them decapitated, found murdered in southern Mexico. At least seven were soldiers. Across the border from San Diego in Tijuana, the bodies of seven more suspected drug cartel victims were discovered over the weekend. The carnage comes on the heels of a meeting between U.S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Mexican counterpart Patricia Espinosa (ph). Each side praised the others efforts to fight drug cartel violence...

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Transcript
American Patrol Report – Observation
Evidence uncovered by American Border Patrol suggests that the on-going drug war in Mexico may have more to do with the construction of border fencing and barriers than Mexican President Calderon's police efforts. As the chart above shows, as border defenses were increased, so did drug-related killings in Mexico. "As smuggling corridors were cut-off, cartels may have begun fighting over remaining routes," said Glenn Spencer of ABP.
Spencer will present detailed evidence of the border-defense theory, including video and still images of the blocking of suspected drug corridors, at a news conference to be held at the National Press Club on January 15, 2009.