Drug cartels

In Mexico, as in many other countries, drugs such as opiates, cocaine and marijuana were commonly used, generally for medical reasons, until the beginning of the twentiethcentury, when prohibition laws came into effect. Drug trafficking in Mexico began as a response to U.S. Opium demand. The formation of the most important drug traffickingorganizations in Mexico can be traced back to the 1920's, when prohibition laws provoked an immediate response from poppy cultivators in north-western states, especially in Sinaloa. Theregion became the center of drug business and a source of trafficking expertise, this knowledge transmitted throughout generations.
Drug traffickers in Mexico have become sopowerful that they have “penetrated” the protective shield of official institutions whose purpose is to fight them. Citizens unfortunately, can't do a thing. Citizens know thatit's not drug trafficking and it's agents, on one side, and the state on the other. Since the beginning of prohibition, the illegal trade appeared related to powerful politicalagents in the production and trafficking regions. Cultivators and wholesale smugglers were not independent players.
Their success depended on political protection. The businesswas profitable enough to attract the interest of mighty politicians. They did not buy politicians. Instead, politicians required them to pay a type of “tax”. If they refused topay, their business was over. The power was on the political side. Politicians decided who, when, where and the how. Drug trafficking was supported from within the powerstructure. How could drug traffickers have penetrated a political structure that created and protected them, a political structure they were inferior to? They were it's creation.