Constantine explained that cross-border drug traffic is no longer dominated by Colombians. Drug distributors had for many years relied on Colombian traffickers for the transportation resources to get cocaine and other drugs into the United States. For many years Mexican drug organizations had dominated markets in the Western United States. But in recent years DEA has detected increased Mexican organization dominance in the Eastern portion of the country as well, he noted.
Statistics tell part of the story.
The damage that these traffickers have caused the United States is enormous. Organized crime groups from Mexico rely on violence as an essential tool of the trade. Much of the drug-related violence which has become commonplace in Mexico has spilled over to communities within the United States. But Constantine emphasized that strong U.S. enforcement against drugs and drug violence must be met by the kind of integrity in enforcement on the Mexican side of the border that produced the victory over organized crime a generation ago in the United States. Corruption is the central tool of the criminal protectors.