The increasing violence that the drug cartels have been inflicting on Mexico is now making its way across the Rio Grande into the United States. And examples of the spillover are spreading and becoming ever more numerous, according to American officials cited in multiple reports.

Phoenix, Arizona, now leads the nation in kidnapping, most of it related to Mexican cartels. Last year the city had more than one reported kidnapping every day. “The victims are not likely to seek police assistance due to their immigration status or their involvement in illegal activity,” according to Stratfor, a global intelligence firm. “This strongly suggests the kidnapping problem greatly exceeds the number of cases reported to police.” The report goes on to say that Mexican cartels’ kidnapping operations in the United States “merit careful attention,” also noting that the gangs could decide to “diversify their pool of victims.”

One incident that temporarily shined the spotlight on the violence issue was a widely reported assassination in Phoenix where heavily armed gunmen tied to the cartels and dressed like a Phoenix Police Department tactical unit fired over 100 rounds into a house.

"The fight in Mexico is about domination of the smuggling corridors and those corridors don't stop at the border," said Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard. According to a report in Reuters entitled "U.S. rattled as Mexican drug war bleeds over border," police in Southern California have also been investigating kidnappings of Americans by armed groups connected to Mexican drug cartels. Among the victims was a San Diego woman and her daughter held for ransom in Mexico. Another incident mentioned in the story involved a live grenade traced to a Mexican cartel that was thrown onto a pool table at a bar patronized by off-duty police in Southern Texas.

The cartels are fairly well established throughout the United States. According to a report from the National Drug Intelligence Center released in December, the Mexican gangs “maintain drug distribution networks or supply drugs to distributors in at least 230 U.S. cities.” The report also called the cartels “the greatest drug trafficking threat to the United States,” adding that “they control most of the U.S. drug market and have established varied transportation routes, advanced communications capabilities and strong affiliations with gangs in the United States.”

When asked by Bill O’Reilly on his Fox News show if the violence was going to spread into the United States, Zapata County Sheriff Sigi Gonzalez said; “I’m not going to say it’s coming, I’m saying it’s already here.” He also noted that while some of his deputies were patrolling the border they encountered 20 to 25 men carrying duffel bags with machine guns slung over their shoulders.

The violence is “reaching into Arizona, and that is what is really alarming local and state law enforcement,” according to Commander Dan Allen of Arizona’s Department of Public Safety, who testified on the issue before the State Senate Judiciary Committee. “We are finding home invasion and attacks involving people impersonating law enforcement officers,” he told the committee. “They are very forceful and aggressive. They are heavily armed, and they threaten, assail, bind and sometimes kill victims.”

U.S. Representative Lamar Smith recently said the rise in violence along the border “has turned some American communities and neighborhoods into the Wild West." He added that “a battle is building on the border, and U.S. citizens are getting caught in the crossfire.... Congress must address the violence before more lives are lost."

With an estimated 5,700 deaths in Mexico last year tied to the cartel violence — including hundreds of law enforcement officials — Governor Rick Perry of Texas wants 1,000 troops to guard the border. Meanwhile, the state’s attorney general is pushing for measures to target smugglers and cartels. Last week the U.S. Justice Department revealed that it had arrested more than 730 people across the country after a nearly two-year investigation of the Mexican Sinaloa cartel. Homeland Security also has plans to send more resources and personnel to the border according to an official cited in the Los Angeles Times. Federal lawmakers are jumping onboard as well, with the Senate announcing last week that it would hold hearings to determine whether American law enforcement has the ability to deal with the rise in crime on this side of the border.

The United States is also still on track to pour over a billion dollars into helping Mexico wage its drug war under the Merida Initiative. Attorney General Eric Holder thinks banning semi-automatic rifles would somehow help stop the tide of fully-automatic military weapons, grenades, and rocket launchers into Mexico. Former deputy assistant secretary of State for international law enforcement Thomas A. Schweich explains that "the cartels know no borders in what they do, and it is important that we know no borders in order to defeat them."

It seems certain interests in Washington would like to use the fear resulting from this violence to further integrate America and Mexico, wage a war against guns and freedom, and ramp up the police state. Yet contrary to Schweich’s opinion that we should "know no borders to defeat" the cartels, we should secure our borders and end the growing entanglements with the narco state that is Mexico.

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End the Prohibition said:

	End the Prohibition End the federal marijuana prohibition before the cartels return our country to the days of Al Capone!! Same problem, same solution.
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March 03, 2009
Votes: +2

Daneer said:

	Deport the Users The US has become over whelmed with addicts and users and it is time to clean house. I vote to... Deport all the users including pot. Potheads are just as useless as the others (horrible example for kids) and take back our country by cleaning our streets again.
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March 03, 2009
Votes: -1

patriot said:

	... The federal prohibition on marijuana should be lifted due to its unconstitutionality, but every state should "clean house"
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March 03, 2009
Votes: +4

NewsJunkie said:

	Video Here is a video I found about the recent violence in Mexico. It talks about the implications of the police chief in Cancun being arrested for his possible involvement in drug related murders, along with the effect the war on drugs is having on the US economy. http://www.newsy.com/videos/mexico_s_serious_problem/
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March 03, 2009
Votes: +0

ConstitutionSupporter said:

Clean House I vote to deport morons who don't understand freedom or the principles of America.... Fortunately for such morons freedom of speech is still protected at least. I vote we give every moron who wants to continue the drug war a rifle and a parachute and drop them in the Mexican desert... Or at least force them to watch videos of the botched drug raids where families get shot-up in the middle of the night by military-style police... Or at the very least teach them some economics so that they can understand the sheer stupidity of it all.

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March 04, 2009
Votes: +4

Flu-Bird said:

	Time to close the borders with a force field Look they still allow all these illegal aliens in and keep the borders open truly we need a force field on our borders and to stop the planned NORTH AMERICAN UNION and close down the NAFTA SUPER HIWAYS AND REPEAL NAFTA
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March 04, 2009
Votes: +8

Chaos said:

Rather have pot legalized then live next to an alcoholic Daneer says: The US has become over whelmed with addicts and users and it is time to clean house. I vote to... Deport all the users including pot. Potheads are just as useless as the others (horrible example for kids) and take back our country by cleaning our streets again. Drinking alcohol is a horrible example for kids, but you condone that? Alcohol can cause severe depression. Our petty or angry side gets exaggerated by alcohol. Large doses of alcohol block the nerves necessary for erection. The loss of inhibition that accompanies alcohol intake can lead to a failure to consider the need to practice safe sex, by using a condom.

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March 04, 2009
Votes: +0

Pharmacist said:

America's War on Drugs is responsible for the Bloodshed The horrible violence, corruption and bloodshed will continue to escalate until we come to our senses about the root cause of it all--our War on Drugs and our continued denial that is has been a wretched failure. We've been sold a bill of goods with the idea that we can legislate a drug-free society into existence. Well, it obviously ain't gonna happen, and now look what we have. So If people want to use drugs, LET 'EM! We have learned to live with far more dangerous drugs--alcohol, nicotine and pharmaceuticals. We can learn to live with the rest. STOP THE DRUG WAR!!! JUST DO IT!!! DO IT NOW !!!

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March 05, 2009
Votes: +3

apattterson said:

... American's are asleep! Don't focus on one thing ,look at the big picture, we are slaves, to a soon to be world goverment, and people are just complaining and not doing anything about it.Abortion, drugs, freedom,taxes,war over seas,you name it. Put it all together and its a total destruction of morals, freedom, human rights, and commom sense. There is a book that tells all about it, the Bible, God has warned people to stop trying to rule the world. The out come is not good for people who choose to control life one their own.

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March 05, 2009
Votes: -2

southtexasgal said:

I live in South Texas......... I live in South Texas in a small town of 5000 people. I can tell you that the violence has already gotten here. Right now the town I live in is 85% hispanic. People are leaving right and left because its not safe in my small town any more. The Illegals here out number the legals by about half.. I invite anyone who says there is no problem to come for a visit. But we the United States have allowed this to happen. We should have shut down the border long ago.. Now its too late .. the Hispanic population now runs almost all of Texas. The number of illegals on welfare and public assistance would astound you all. The birth rate among hispanic teenagers is the highest of any ethnic group. Some thing has to be done but I dont see a plan on what to do coming from the White House. We in the United States have made it a perfect place for them, In our grocery store most products have the labels in spanish.. ( Cheerios for example are in spanish) a lot of commercials on tv are in spanish ( ford, Chevy, etc etc ) the music in most stores in spanish.. sometimes you forget that this is actually the United States and NOT Mexico. If you want a job you MUST speak spanish. We have allowed this to happen as a country so now we will have to deal with the violence as a country !

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March 08, 2009
Votes: +3

Greg Watkins said:

	Congress and The Department of Homeland Security. Every politician in Washington DC. turned their heads on this problem for years. They did not want to upset the flow of illegals flowing over the boarder because it would have a negitive affect on the uneducated voter base they so desperatly are trying to secure. I say we have a show of no confidence in every congressman and Senator in DC.
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March 26, 2009
Votes: +1