EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — Mexican drug cartels control all aspects of crime and they operate all along the U.S.-Mexico border, including the American side.
In recent years, these criminal organizations have found easier and less expensive ways to make a lot of money, including smuggling migrants and producing meth and fentanyl, a highly addictive opioid.
Traditionally, the goal of drug cartels has been to control the supply of drugs and maximize profits. For cartels in Mexico, that means getting the drugs in the United States.
It also means a fight for control of smuggling corridors to the U.S.
In recent years, however, the wars have intensified as cartels have added migrant smuggling to their portfolio, using those same routes to the border.
It’s a lucrative business, in which migrants pay upwards of $15,000 to be smuggled into the U.S.
To the cartels, though, the migrants are mere “cargo,” and seeking the help of smugglers exposes migrants to kidnapping, trafficking and even death.