In the midst of the pandemic the Sinaloa cartel, the New Generation Jalisco Cartel (CJNG) and other Mexican drug trafficking groups were never affected by their criminal and political influence. In fact, they adapted to the adverse conditions to continue their global drug trafficking business despite the health, social and economic conditions caused by covid-19, according to a report prepared by the United States Congress Research Service.
“The pandemic does not appear to have diminished the extensive criminal and political power of Mexico’s criminal organizations (…) Any change could affect the extent to which Mexico-based transnational criminal organizations, commonly described as cartels, pose a threat to to the national security of the United States “, warns the text consulted by MILLENNIUM.
This is in line with the warnings made by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last October when it released the National Threat Assessment 2020 where he considered Mexican cartels a key threat to the United States for its ability to control territory and transit routes along the border and to co-opt officials at various levels of government.
According to the document entitled “Cartels and Mexican Drug Trafficking: Operations in the Middle of Covid-19” the drug traffickers “adapted to the covid-19’s operating environment” and decided to store resources in order to withstand the blockages and health restrictions.
This includes, according to the Capitol revelation, cash in addition to chemical and drug precursors, as cartels are wary of how the pandemic will affect law enforcement operations against side and side. border band.
He also warns that the pandemic has motivated cartels to diversify and expand their use of submarines, drones, ultralight light aircraft, tunnels and digital currency.
“Neither the risk of infection nor the mobility restrictions imposed by the government during the pandemic appear to have significantly deterred cartel activity,” the report stresses.
The text prepared by Research Service of the Capitol explains that several high-profile seizures reached by anti-narcotics agencies last year, when the global pandemic was declared and contagion levels reached the highest numbers, suggest possible miscalculations by traffickers .
“However, these confiscations also indicate that drugs and money continue to flow through traffic corridors between United States and Mexico. In addition, opium cultivation and heroin production in Mexico have not been greatly affected by covid-19-related events, ”the legislative report abounds.
It also reveals that in the face of the shortage of chemical precursors brought mainly from China and the India Due to the slowdown in maritime trade and port activity, criminal organizations that manufacture and smuggle drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine, which use these precursors as raw materials, have been affected, so this has affected in the final price of your product.
“Some observers speculate that cartels are using the pandemic as a pretext to collude and set prices,” he said.ero also warns that the pandemic may motivate “Mexico-based drug producers to find an alternative precursor and further develop domestic production capacity.”
The paper emphasizes that it has had access to reports that cartels are distributing aid packages to the population amid the pandemic marked with the badges of their organizations and coronavirus-related blocking measures.
“These activities, amplified on social media, seem to be intended to gain community support for their criminal enterprises and attract recruits (…) aid packages reinforced the perception of a Mexican government weak, unable to exercise territorial control, amid an expected economic contraction of about 9 percent by 2020, ”the text insists.
The report also notes that the strategy undertaken by the current administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador against posters it is frequently criticized.
“While Mexican President Andrés López Obrador maintains high levels of approval (above 60 percent in early 2021), his handling of Mexican criminal groups and his inability to reduce violence are frequently criticized. “, holds.
Srm