Title: Mexican drug war - Wikipedia
Headings: Mexican drug war
Mexican drug war
Contents
Background
Presidents
Vicente Fox
Felipe Calderón
Enrique Peña Nieto
Andrés Manuel López Obrador
Drug sources and use
Sources
Use
Poverty
Education
Mexican cartels
The Origin and Birth
Major cartels in the war
Sinaloa Cartel
Beltrán-Leyva Cartel
Juárez Cartel
Tijuana Cartel
Gulf Cartel
Los Zetas
La Familia Cartel
Knights Templar
CJNG
Nueva Plaza Cartel
Cartel propaganda
Paramilitaries
Women
Firearms
Smuggling of firearms
Gun origins
Project Gunrunner
Operations
Operation Michoacán
Escalation (2008–12)
Los Zetas-Gulf cartel conflict
Effects in Mexico
Casualties
Violence
Government corruption
Impact on human rights
Impact on public health
Journalists and the media
Murders of politicians
Massacres and exploitation of migrants
Human trafficking
Effects internationally
Europe
Guatemala
West Africa
Ecuador
Canada
United States
U.S. death toll and national security
Controversies
Money laundering
Drug demand
See also
References
Further reading
External links

Content: Contents
1 Background
1.1 Presidents
1.1.1 Vicente Fox
1.1.2 Felipe Calderón
1.1.3 Enrique Peña Nieto
1.1.4 Andrés Manuel López Obrador
1.2 Drug sources and use
1.2.1 Sources
1.2.2 Use
1.3 Poverty
1.3.1 Education
2 Mexican cartels
2.1 The Origin and Birth
2.2 Major cartels in the war
2.2.1 Sinaloa Cartel
2.2.2 Beltrán-Leyva Cartel
2.2.3 Juárez Cartel
2.2.4 Tijuana Cartel
2.2.5 Gulf Cartel
2.2.6 Los Zetas
2.2.7 La Familia Cartel
2.2.8 Knights Templar
2.2.9 CJNG
2.2.10 Nueva Plaza Cartel
3 Cartel propaganda
4 Paramilitaries
5 Women
6 Firearms
6.1 Smuggling of firearms
6.1.1 Gun origins
6.1.2 Project Gunrunner
7 Operations
7.1 Operation Michoacán
7.2 Escalation (2008–12)
7.3 Los Zetas-Gulf cartel conflict
8 Effects in Mexico
8.1 Casualties
8.2 Violence
8.3 Government corruption
8.4 Impact on human rights
8.5 Impact on public health
8.6 Journalists and the media
8.7 Murders of politicians
8.8 Massacres and exploitation of migrants
8.9 Human trafficking
9 Effects internationally
9.1 Europe
9.2 Guatemala
9.3 West Africa
9.4 Ecuador
9.5 Canada
9.6 United States
9.6.1 U.S. death toll and national security
10 Controversies
10.1 Money laundering
10.2 Drug demand
11 See also
12 References
13 Further reading
14 External links
Background
See also: Timeline of the Mexican drug war
Due to its location, Mexico has long been used as a staging and transshipment point for narcotics and contraband between Latin America and U.S. markets. Mexican bootleggers supplied alcohol to the United States gangsters throughout the duration of Prohibition in the United States, and the onset of the illegal drug trade with the U.S. began when prohibition came to an end in 1933. Towards the end of the 1960s, Mexican narcotic smugglers started to smuggle drugs on a major scale. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Colombia 's Pablo Escobar was the main exporter of cocaine and dealt with organized criminal networks all over the world. While Escobar's Medellin Cartel and the Cali Cartel would manufacture the products, Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo 's Guadalajara Cartel would oversee distribution. When enforcement efforts intensified in South Florida and the Caribbean, the Colombian organizations formed partnerships with the Mexico-based traffickers to transport cocaine by land through Mexico into the United States. This was easily accomplished because Mexico had long been a major source of heroin and cannabis, and drug traffickers from Mexico had already established an infrastructure that stood ready to serve the Colombia-based traffickers. By the mid-1980s, the organizations from Mexico were well-established and reliable transporters of Colombian cocaine. At first, the Mexican gangs were paid in cash for their transportation services, but in the late 1980s, the Mexican transport organizations and the Colombian drug traffickers settled on a payment-in-product arrangement.