Quest for Integrity: The Mexican-U.S. Drug Issue in the 1980s.

摘要

The continuing flow of drugs from Mexico to the United States has been a major source of tension between the two countries over the past two decades. At present, Mexico accounts for a large share-perhaps more than half-of U.S. imports of marijuana and heroin; it also serves as a transshipment point for a large and apparently increasing proportion of cocaine imports. This study assesses the effectiveness and political aspects of Mexican drug control efforts in the 1970s and 1980s. Using official U.S. government production and price figures, we estimate that export earnings from heroin and marijuana in 1988 were between $2.2 billion and $6.8 billion; we believe that the lower figure is more likely. These revenues appear to have been increasing rapidly in recent years. Drug revenues currently constitute between 1.25 and 4 percent of Mexico's gross national product (GNP); they add 5 to 20 percent to recorded export earnings. We were unable to estimate cocaine export revenues. The difficulty of uprooting an industry of this size is compounded by the fact that Mexico has long been a platform for many types of smuggling into the United States. Highly organized smuggling operations, e.g., of stolen automobiles and migrant workers, developed rapidly in Mexico in the 1970s. Many powerful smugglers have been able, through corruption, to establish protected positions for themselves and their businesses within Mexico's political system, on a regional, if not national, basis.