Monday, December 14, 2009

Strategies in the U.S.-Mexico War against Terrorization

By Jerry Brewer

While narcoterrorists and armed criminal insurgents continue to traverse the Central American bottleneck into North America, the U.S. is continuing to take the lead in drawing a somewhat flaccid and slightly irregular line in the sand.

There have been recent victories, as well as the reliance on an old U.S. federal law enforcement strategy from the early 1970s, previously very successful in dismantling world criminal drug hierarchies — in essence, the targeting of flesh in lieu of the commodity.  The typical police effort in narcotics enforcement has been the seizure of drugs and as much quantity as possible.  Obviously, while drug seizures remain an essential component of interdiction, the major successful thrust is to root out the leadership of a network of distribution.  After all, the problem is people.

Central America and Mexico are convenient conduits for these organized criminal organizations and illicit trafficking enterprises that threaten the national security of any nation within their path.  This illicit narcotics pipeline that essentially flows unimpeded includes all seven Central American nations, with the major push of this deadly scourge coming from their neighbors to the south.

The complexities facing law enforcement or military policing efforts, within this theater of enforcement against powerful cartels and drug kingpins, are enormous.  Further complicating the process is the wanton corruption of police and other governmental officials.  Those that stand firm, in disregard, or in the way of the corruption attempts and blatant exploitation of these victims are routinely executed.  These have included journalists, politicians, judges, and prosecutors.  When you add into the equation corrupt third-world governments and rogue leftist regimes, in clandestine support and in the facilitation of narcotrafficking and guerrilla insurgency, the strategies to successfully interdict must be precise.

A textbook example of targeting to dismantle an illicit organization of death and assorted acts of mayhem was “Project Coronado.”  This, a U.S. multiagency law enforcement operation that lasted for nearly four years, was the largest ever against a Mexican drug cartel.  This massive assault on the “La Familia Michoacana" cartel has severely impacted La Familia’s weapons, cash flow between the United States and Mexico, and the organization’s supply chain.  Arrests in the United States were made in some 19 states.

Although Project Coronado did not ultimately reach some of the top hierarchy, the charges and arrest warrants that were unsealed revealed that La Familia’s areas of illicit operational activity include not only Mexico, but too Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala, and Panama.

The U.S. border war shared with Mexico is one of shock, horror, and confusion as both sides struggle to get a handle on a fluid operational strategy.  The outflow of billions of US dollars in bulk cash and weapons to Latin America is appalling, and this demands critical attention and resources so that leaders can take action against any threat to their homelands. The graphic signs of this horrendous scourge against free nations have been predictable, reported and graphically visible since at least 2005.

As well, the number of deaths, weapons, and manner of inhumane torture and related violence is certainly reminiscent of actual war in the truest sense.

Across the border from El Paso, Texas, Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, is a prime example of an active battleground.  Known as the deadliest city in Mexico, more than 2,200 murders have occurred there this year alone.

From east Texas, in McAllen, and west to Laredo, graphics show a corridor and/or major pipeline for drugs into the U.S., up to the metro regions of Austin and Dallas/Fort Worth; as well as over to Houston.  The outflow from there, to all points in all directions, is practically an abyss.  This is no secret to the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) or other proactive law enforcement intelligence entities, but too it has resulted in excessive handwringing and finger pointing.

Texas, via Mexico, is no doubt a staging area for continued attack by well armed elements from all over Latin America, as they target North America to provide illicit contraband and other illegal services for top dollar, along with others who seek to fulfill agendas of hate and other acts of anarchy.

Long range vision has failed to properly prepare both Mexico and the U.S. for this deadly fight.  The short term look is now much lower towards knee-jerk reaction as enforcement elements in both nations chase those that have since surpassed borders and now occupy lucrative “for profit” markets.  Local U.S. law enforcement is currently attempting to get a handle on understanding and training to confront this new enemy that moves and operates much like radical terrorist organizations with superior weapons.  Federal officials also are upgrading their skills, knowledge, and abilities in surveillance detection and counterterrorism for the southwest border front.

Much like the approach of a massive hurricane, the timely preparation must start at home.

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Jerry Brewer is C.E.O. of Criminal Justice International Associates, a global risk mitigation firm headquartered in Miami, Florida.  His website is located at www.cjiausa.org.