He United States Attorney General, Merrick Garlandassured that the drug trafficking cartels in Mexico are so powerful that they even have more income than the economies of some countries.
“They are enormously profitable”Garland warned during an appearance this Tuesday before the House of Representatives.
When requesting a larger budget for the Department of Justice that he heads, Garland stated that the Mexican cartels “they have more money than some nation-states and emphasized that there are places in the country where it is difficult to deal with them.
During his appearance before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Justice Expenditures, the Secretary of Justice indicated that he would like to see a greater cooperation with the Mexican government.
The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) suggested the same thing last week, Christopher Wraywho expressed concern about Mexico's intermittent cooperation in the fight against drug cartels.
In this sense, Garland pointed out that cooperation between Mexico and the Anti-Narcotics Agency (DEA) has not been fully reestablished.
“I have personally gone to Mexico to speak with the Attorney General (Alejandro Gertz) to return to the degree of cooperation that previously existed with the DEA,” Garland explained. “I haven't been completely successful in that endeavor yet. But I am persistent and I will not give up until cooperation with the DEA is as complete as possible“, said.
How much do drug cartels earn in Mexico?
According to a study by the RAND Corporationa research laboratory made up of academics and experts in analysis and policy formulation, in 2010, estimated that the income from drug trafficking of cartels in Mexico ranged between 6 billion and 8 billion dollars.
This figure would be greater than GDP from countries like Barbados or Montenegroindicates the document.
In 2018, research from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) noted that the criminal industry generates gross revenues each year for an estimated 600 billion pesos; that is, approximately 33 thousand 165 million dollars.
This figure represents a GDP greater than that of some Caribbean islands such as Haiti (20.94 billion dollars), Jamaica (14.66 billion dollars) and Bahamas (11.21 billion dollars).
Years later, in 2023, an article in the magazine Science revealed that organized crime was already the fifth largest employer in Mexico, even surpassing several transnational companies.
According to the analysis, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) It is the one that recruits the most people with 17.5 percent. They are followed by the Sinaloa Cartel with 8.9 percent; the New Michoacan Family with 6.2 percent; the Northeast with 4.5 percent; and Unión Tepito with 3.5 percent.
