Mexico Sends Ten Thousand Troops to the U.S. Border

What Happened?

Early in February Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum promised to deploy ten thousand troops to the U.S. border to help stem the flow of illicit drugs into the United States. 

Those troop deployments are now being fulfilled as soldiers from Mexico’s National Guard have been placed in several spots along with U.S. border to help patrol and search for illegal drug trafficking. 

The troop deployments are part of an initiative not only intended to help combat drug trafficking but also to prevent the imposition of tariffs on goods from Mexico by the Trump Administration.

Why it Matters

The big question is will the additional forces deployed along the U.S. border by the Mexican government produce the desired results of reducing the flow of illegal drugs. While it’s too early to draw any definitive conclusions, the ingenuity of drug traffickers is likely to continue to pose problems for law enforcement officials and military forces engaged in counter drug operations.

Michael Humphries, a Customs and Border Patrol official who works near Nogales, Arizona, said “the cartels are ingenious. They move drugs through cars, trucks, planes, people, tunnels, whatever.” 

In an interview with the Economist Mr. Humphries went on to describe how law enforcement officials have discovered drugs hidden inside petrol tanks, spare tires, and even hollowed out stacks of tortillas. Which means that when it comes to transporting illegal drugs like fentanyl, drug traffickers have a lot of options that are difficult to detect.

The other problem with fentanyl is how easy it is to make. Drug cartels don’t need laboratories or expensive equipment to create the drug, which can be made almost anywhere using basic kitchen appliances by mixing the precursors. 

That means finding drug production facilities is very difficult because they can be hidden in ordinary homes or apartments. Searching every home and apartment is simply not feasible even with the addition of troops from the military.

Still the addition of military troops on both sides of the border could force the cartels to abandon some of their routes and more obvious forms of transportation. So it could have an impact on the drug trade. 

Focusing on the border can help reduce the number of illegal drugs flowing into the United States. But long term solutions that can make big reductions will have to focus on production and demand, two things increased border security cannot alter. 

How it Affects You

Illicit drugs including fentanyl have devastated many lives and communities in the United States. The deployment of troops by Mexico’s government means they are doing more now to help combat the problem. 

Stemming the tide of illegal drugs will require sustained and coordinated efforts by the U.S. and Mexico’s government. But the troop deployments could at least be characterized as a start.