Ranching No Man's Land

Mexico has belatedly discovered that its criminal syndicates have become so powerful that they directly threaten the state. In fact, Mexico hovers on the brink of becoming a narco-state. Its criminal syndicates control the Mexican side of the Texas/Mexico border and the smuggling of drugs and illegal immigrants into Texas. Their influence and reach have crossed the Rio Grande River in ways that many politicians and media prefer to not acknowledge. Caught in this crossfire are ranchers trying to protect their property and their way of life. Here are some of the problems they face daily. The criminal organizations To understand the security problem along the Texas/Mexico border, you must understand the criminal organizations that control it. The drug cartels are the top tier of organized crime on the border. Alliances and territories change, but the primary cartels operating along the Texas border include the Gulf, Sinaloa, Juárez, Beltrán-Leyva, Los Zetas, Los Negros and La Familia gangs. Each controls smuggling routes into the U.S. through Texas. They use these routes to move their drugs and illegal immigrants into the U.S., but they also operate as toll companies — they charge smaller criminal enterprises such as human smugglers to use their territory and routes to carry out their own criminal enterprises. The cartels earn billions of dollars controlling these smuggling routes, and big money leads to violent turf wars to wrest control of territory from rivals. The cartels control the wholesale distribution of their drugs in the U.S. maintaining cells in major cities such as Houston, El Paso, Austin, San Antonio and Dallas. These cells supply drugs for retail sale to violent street gangs like MS-13 and the Mexican Mafia. To make extra income — like any business, the cartels seek multiple revenue sources — the cartels have become major players in human trafficking and kidnapping. The major threat for Texas ranchers is that these smuggling routes often traverse their property...more