Cartel: The Coming Invasion of Mexico's Drug Wars

by Sylvia Longmire

Having followed Mexico's cartels for years, border security expert Sylvia Longmire takes us deep into the heart of their world to witness a dangerous underground that will do whatever it takes to deliver drugs to a willing audience of American consumers. The cartels have grown increasingly bold in recent years, building submarines to move up the coast of Central America and digging elaborate tunnels that both move drugs north and carry cash and U.S. high-powered assault weapons back to fuel the drug war. Channeling her long experience working on border issues, Longmire brings to life the very real threat of Mexican cartels operating not just along the southwest border, but deep inside every corner of the United States. She also offers real solutions to the critical problems facing Mexico and the United States, including programs to deter youth in Mexico from joining the cartels and changing drug laws on both sides of the border.

Genres: Nonfiction, Crime, History, Politics, True Crime, Book Club

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 27, 2011

About the author

Sylvia Longmire is a service-disabled veteran, mother, author, consultant, entrepreneur, world traveler, and the former Ms. Wheelchair USA 2016. She traveled extensively from an early age and during her time as an Air Force officer and Special Agent. After she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2005, her ability to walk started to deteriorate. Fortunately, the progression of her MS was slow enough that she could gradually adapt to new ways of living. Sylvia had to learn how to travel with a walker, and eventually with an electric scooter.

Her work as a consultant has taken her all across the United States, and her addiction to leisure travel has taken her (and her scooter) as far as the deserts of Dubai and the glaciers of Alaska. She often travels alone, and is continually invigorated by the kindness and offers of help from strangers in every corner of this beautiful world. However, Sylvia is battling the clock. MS is a progressive disease without a cure, and she doesn t know how much longer her body will allow her to travel. So as long as her wallet allows, Sylvia is knocking both domestic and international destinations off her bucket list as quickly as she can She chooses her destinations based on their levels of wheelchair accessibility, as well as whether she ll be able to travel there alone or need a companion.

Her goals are twofold: to educate people at home and abroad about the needs and capabilities of disabled travelers, and to encourage people with disabilities to leave their fears behind and seek adventure. Through her photography from the vantage point of a seated position, Sylvia hopes to inspire other wheelies to create their own photo-worthy moments abroad. When she s not traveling, Sylvia works as a consultant and subject matter expert on Mexico s drug war and border security issues. She has two books in print, Cartel and Border Insecurity, and she has appeared on most major national news and radio networks. She is also an accessible travel agent and owns/manages the Spin the Globe / Travel agency.

Sylvia is a single mom to two amazing boys who inspired her to form The PreJax Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides college scholarships to students with MS or who have a parent with MS. All proceeds from the sale of The View from Down Here will be donated to the Foundation.

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author provides a good introduction to the subject. This is not the book to read for in-depth coverage of the development of the Mexican drug cartels and their tragic domestic consequences. Its strength is its integration of that subject along with the activities of the cartels on the U.S. side of the border and of the U.S. enforcement efforts to combat them. Another strength is the background the author brings--academic training combined with years of military counterintelligence service devoted to this subject, which also gave her access to the stories of U.S. counter-narcotics officials. A good indicator of the book's focus is this quotation: "Mexico's drug war is not just a border security problem, or a drug smuggling problem, or a southbound weapons smuggling problem. It is a national security problem that is quiet and insidious. . . . Cartel members use US highways and cities to move and hide drugs and people. They pose as law-abiding citizens and buy guns, allowed by US laws, so they can send them to brutal assassins across the border" (p. 193).

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Coming Invasion of Mexico's Drug Wars
By Sylvia Longmire
St. Martin's Press 246 pgs
978-0-230-11137-0
Rating: Yeah....Okay + 1/2

As an introduction to the subject of Mexico's drug wars, Cartel does a good job. It tells you who they are, what they do, and how they do it. The book reads like a textbook and the data is impeccable. It comes alive at times with anecdotes but otherwise is pretty dry. The author, Sylvia Longmire, was an analyst for drug trafficking and border violence for the state of California, which is why Cartel sounds as if it was written by an analyst. I don't recommend it for someone who has been following the news and National Geographic or lives in a border state (I live in Texas and know a few people who have relatives in Mexico) because you won't learn anything you don't already know. But for beginners it is ideal.

The book begins with a short history of cartels in Mexico from their beginnings to the present day, names such as El Chapo, Arellano, Fuentes, Sinaloa and Los Zetas. Once upon a time a man named Gallardo was the king of the cartel. Then he broke up his own monopoly and created Baby Bell cartels with his people in charge. Seems to me that someone should have foreseen that the result would be competition, and that competition would lead to fights over smuggling corridors in the future. There was a time when the Mexican cartels followed the same creed as the Mafia in this country (not that the Mafia is a good thing.) They negotiated, family members were strictly off limits, violence against law enforcement was to be avoided and necessary violence was kept in-house. Sort of an honor among thieves thing. No more. The cartels in Mexico have flipped their lids. They kidnap, torture, kill and extort. Their victims are everybody. To make matters even worse, law enforcement in Mexico, from the local beat cop to the attorney general, are notoriously corrupt, paid off by the cartels to at best look the other way, and at worst perform an execution or two themselves.

And now these atrocities happen here. Phoenix has had such an increase in kidnappings that they have formed a special task force. Arms trafficking is a growing problem especially in Arizona and Texas which have the most lenient state laws. Straw buyers visit gun shops and shows and purchase several firearms that they then deliver to the guy who will take the guns across the border. This is important because, believe it or not, guns are not easy to buy in Mexico. Serial number searches have proven the link between US firearms and deaths in Mexico and in this country.

The cartels are a business like any other, and as such look for efficiencies. One of these is using US public lands such as national parks to grow marijuana. This way they don't have to try and run the product across the border and risk detection. Two or three employees of the cartel will scout a location; set up camp, which can include generators, irrigation pipes, trip-wires, etc. They are armed and will live with and protect the crop from planting through harvest and processing. Our park rangers and law enforcement are up against much more dangerous criminals than have historically been encountered in our parks. So this is another way that the drug war is spreading north from our border.

Presidents of Mexico and their administrations have failed miserably in the past to crack down on the cartels. But in 2006 Felipe Calderon was elected president and he immediately announced a new policy. He would bring the fight to the cartels with the Mexican Army. He deployed thousands of soldiers, then he fired large numbers of state and local law enforcement for corruption. New officers are hired only after they pass a lie detector test. Judicial reforms have been implemented to make the process transparent to encourage in the public more faith in the system. President Calderon has also floated novel legislation to ease up on criminal penalties for users in the hopes that the drug prices would drop and become less lucrative for the cartels. The jury is still out.

The author puts forward a few strategies and tactics to lessen the flow of drugs into the United States and lessen the danger of the fallout of Mexico's drug wars. She says we need to learn to manage a war that we can't win. We should send more money to the right places, increase use of the National Guard, change some of our own drug and gun laws, etc. Those last two will realistically never be done.

President Calderon has about a billion strikes against him and those strikes are dollar bills. Consider what he's up against. Cartel chiefs have been listed in Forbes magazine's list of the world's top billionaires and Forbes world's most powerful people. Check out El Chapo Which brings up an interesting point. The truth is that the cartels incomes are larger than Mexico's defense budget. Larger. More money than the government. There's an event coming up in 2012 in Mexico which I cannot stress enough the significance. Mexico elects a new president next year. I'll be watching with great interest because cartel influence will make or break the next presidency.

[Chad in the ATL · Rating 3 out of 5]

“If there’s any kind of constant in the drug trade, it’s change. Mexican cartels are run like profit-seeking corporations; so when the market makes a move, so do they. Over the years, they have shown an amazing ability to adjust to both changing drug-consumer tastes and increasing law enforcement initiatives.” -Page 10

The long-running drug war in Mexico has gotten bigger and bloodier over the last couple of decades. It has exacted a huge toll on the people and resources of Mexico with thousands dead as a result of the violence. According to Sylvia Longmire’s book, that war is spreading very rapidly to the United States.

As a former senior intelligence analyst for the state of California and an often interviewed expert on news networks, Longmire knows her stuff. In Cartel, she does a thorough job of detailing the many overlapping aspects of the drug trade. From the locations in Central America, Mexico and the United States where illegal drugs are grown and harvested, to the elaborate distribution networks that move the drugs to users in Mexico and America, we get a complete tour of the carnage inflicted by the illegal drug trade that is run by the Mexican Cartels. Frankly, it can get pretty depressing at times.

Longmire expertly diagrams the emergence of the individual drug cartels in Mexico including details of their past cooperation and the historic complacency of the Mexican government. She then goes into the evolution of the cartels into their fractured, violent current forms and the bloody war that has resulted. Longmire also describes the controversial reformist stance of the new Mexican president Felipe Calderon and the impact on the Mexican people for better and worse. More chilling is her description of how the violence is moving into the United States, and not just the border states of the southwest. Longmire provides piles of statistics, but intersperses them with real-world stories of how people on both sides of the border are being affected.

That is not to say Cartel is flawless. Many of the stories and points from the first half of the book are repeated in the second half of the book. Longmire also brings up statistics that serve to contradict some of her own conclusions. Finally, she devotes the final part of the book to describing what needs to be done to improve the situation, but many of her remedies are somewhat vague or in a few cases, impossible.

In spite of its shortcomings, Cartel is very informative and represents and eye-opening expose on the real-world threats that are threatening the safely of innocent civilians. So the next time one of your friends says there is no harm in doing a little weed, you might want to hand them this book and let them know how much blood is on those drugs they are using.

My reviewed copy of Cartel was provided by the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for a book that describes the drug war- how weapons are being trafficked, how money is being laundered, and how drugs are being brought across the border- this is your book. I've read a few different books and learned quite a bit about this process, but I feel that this book is wonderfully written and depicts the issue quite well. Definitely a great read!

[James Creechan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author of this book is a die-hard militarist who believes that the border should be defended at all costs —even if it means shooting at people on the other side of the border from the America side. She defended the shooting of kids by Border Guards in her twitter account (@DrugWarAnalyst) with comments such as "If I throw sticks at a guard dog & get bitten, people would say I got what was coming to me. So why do border crossers keep throwing rocks?". Now, she has every right to hold these opinions — but she has purported to write a book about drug cartels based on facts.

The problem is that the focus is on what is happening on the American side of the border. Of course this is important, but the book is short of detail and insight south of the line. Homeland security and US agents have a very specific agenda that doesn't necessarily serve the needs of Mexico and perhaps even play upon the hysteria of people north of the border.


If readers are interested in learning more about Mexico, I think that two other recent English language books do a better job. Malcolm Beith's "the Last Narco" and Ioan Grillo's El Narco are more informative.

There was a lengthy and generally positive "advance review" of this book in Mexico's Proceso Magazine (J. Esquivel).

WASHINGTON.- El contagio de la narcoviolencia de México en Estados Unidos es una
realidad. No sólo eso: los narcotraficantes del país vecino comienzan a adueñarse de la
producción de mariguana en más de una decena de entidades de este país, concluye Sylvia
Longmire en su libro Cártel, la invasión que viene de la guerra contra las drogas de México.
El volumen, cuya copia fue adelantada a Proceso por la casa editora Palgrave-Macmillan,
consta de 12 capítulos y 242 páginas, divididas en 12 capítulos, y comenzará a distribuirse en
Estados Unidos a partir del 27 de septiembre.
La autora fue oficial y agente en el Departamento Especial de Investigaciones de la Fuerza
Aérea, y durante cuatro años realizó análisis de información de inteligencia y fue experta en
seguridad fronteriza para la Agencia de Manejo de Emergencias en California.
Así como abrimos los ojos al oscuro e inquietante mundo del terrorismo internacional después
de los ataques del 11 de septiembre de 2001, necesitamos comenzar a valorizar la amenaza
que representan para nuestra seguridad nacional los cárteles de México que operan bajo
nuestras narices, advierte en Cártel la también colaboradora de la revista especializada
Homeland Security Today.
Para ella, la narcoviolencia en territorio estadunidense se puede palpar en las ejecuciones,
secuestros y desapariciones de personas a manos de sicarios mexicanos; algunas veces ellos
se enfundan en uniformes de policías locales para cometer sus fechorías:
Una de las actividades más alarmantes realizada por los cárteles mexicanos en Estados
Unidos es el uso de sicarios vestidos con uniformes de policías estadunidenses para reclamar
la pérdida de cargamentos de droga o de dinero.
En junio de 2008 varios hombres vestidos con uniformes del Departamento de Policía de
Phoenix, Arizona, y usando las mismas tácticas y técnicas de un equipo especial de policía
para derribar puertas, entraron a una casa en la ciudad de Phoenix. Por casualidad, policías
auténticos se encontraban cerca del lugar donde ocurrió el incidente y escucharon los disparos.
Cuando los policías llegaron a la casa los atacantes habían desaparecido. A su paso dejaron el
cadáver de un hombre y una casa destruida por más de 50 disparos.
Los pistoleros, según Longmire, eran operadores de uno de los cárteles de la droga más
importantes y peligrosos de México, aunque omite mencionar su nombre.
Delitos transfronteras
Y aun cuando escribe que la narcoviolencia en Estados Unidos no alcanza los niveles que tiene
en México, Longmire insiste en que las autoridades federales de su país deben poner más
atención en este fenómeno social. Su mensaje es: los narcotraficantes mexicanos han dado
muestras de estar dispuestos a asesinar a la gente como lo hacen en su país.
En relación con los secuestros, dice que, al igual que en el país vecino, en Estados Unidos esa
actividad delictiva permite a los cárteles mexicanos obtener jugosas ganancias, que se suman
a los millones que reciben por el trasiego de la drogas.
Y menciona cifras. En 2009, por ejemplo, en la ciudad de Phoenix se reportaron 318 plagios,
mucho más del doble de los que se cometieron en 2000. “De acuerdo con el Departamento de
Policía de Phoenix, la mayoría de estos secuestros estuvieron relacionados con el tráfico de
drogas y con personas procedentes de México”, expone.
Longmire, quien se documentó ampliamente para escribir su libro, revela que cárteles
mexicanos suelen enviar a pandilleros a Estados Unidos a secuestrar a pequeños y medianos
empresarios de su país, por quienes exigen sumas que oscilan entre 30 mil y 1 millón de
dólares. Relata:
Son las 7:15 de la mañana en un día soleado de otoño en la ciudad de Las Vegas, Nevada.
Cole Puffinburger, un niño de seis años ya está vestido y listo para otro día de clases en la
escuela primaria de Stanford.
La mamá de Cole y su prometido ya están despiertos y casi listos para irse al trabajo, era una
mañana de rutina como cualquier otra hasta que tocaron a la puerta. Afuera se encontraba un
hombre que se presentó como policía con una orden para que abrieran la puerta. Una vez que
la puerta se abrió, tres hombres armados de origen hispano se metieron a la casa de Cole y le
pidieron que les diera dinero.
Aterrados, la mamá de Cole y su prometido explicaron que no tenían dinero; rápidamente los
intrusos los ataron de manos y les colocaron mordazas. Luego comenzaron a revisar y destruir
la casa. Todo esto lo observó Cole, pero lo peor estaba por venir. Después de que los hombres
revisaran toda la casa sin encontrar lo que buscaban; uno de ellos apuntó con su pistola a la
cabeza de Cole y lo arrastró hasta un auto afuera de la casa, y así fue como Cole desapareció.
El incidente, ocurrido en octubre de 2008, tuvo un final afortunado. Después de cuatro días de
búsqueda intensa por el territorio estadunidense para localizar a Cole, el menor fue identificado
por un chofer de autobús a las 10:30 de la noche cuando caminaba en una avenida de la
ciudad de Las Vegas.
Se descubrió que Cole fue secuestrado por integrantes de un cártel del narcotráfico de México
debido a que su abuelo, Clemons Tinnenmeyer, estaba involucrado con el tráfico de
metanfetaminas y le había robado varios millones de dólares a los narcotraficantes mexicanos,
relata Cártel.
Dentro de los 50 estados de la Unión Americana, donde de acuerdo con el Departamento de
Justicia hay presencia de todos los cárteles del narcotráfico mexicano, el de Arizona es uno de
los más afectados por el contagio de la narcoviolencia, y en especial por los narcosecuestros.
Longmire apunta que en esta entidad que colinda con la frontera norte mexicana, la policía
(estatal) sospecha que muchos de los secuestros de personas ocurridos en el estado han
terminado en el asesinato de las víctimas por medio de un tiro de gracia, para luego tirar sus
cuerpos o enterrarlos en el desierto.
Cártel analiza también otro hecho por medio del cual se expone lo que Longmire califica como
“la invasión que viene de la guerra contra las drogas de México”, y que se refiere a la gran
inversión que están haciendo los narcotraficantes mexicanos en la siembra de mariguana en
terrenos federales y estatales de Estados Unidos.
Los narcofeudos
En su libro, Sylvia Longmire sostiene que en 2003 las autoridades estadunidenses comenzaron
a notar la participación del narcotráfico mexicano en la siembra de mariguana. Para 2006,
escribe, había enormes sembradíos bajo el control de mexicanos y estadunidenses en
California, Tennessee, Kentucky, Hawai, Carolina del Norte, Washington, Alabama, Virginia del
Oeste, Georgia y Arkansas.
Hoy, la siembra clandestina abarca zonas alejadas de la frontera norte de México, como
Colorado, Utah, Wisconsin y Michigan. En esas regiones, según el presidente Barack Obama,
los narcotraficantes mexicanos y sus aliados estadunidenses producen mucha mariguana.
En julio de 2010 las autoridades (federales) descubrieron un sitio remoto escondido en el
Parque Nacional de Chattahooche, a unas dos millas de la ciudad de Helen, en Georgia, donde
había más de 26 mil plantas de mariguana con un valor estimado en 52 millones de dólares,
que supuestamente eran cultivadas y protegidas por narcotraficantes mexicanos, destaca
Cártel en el capítulo “Productores de mariguana en Estados Unidos”.
Y añade los siguientes datos:
–En 2006 autoridades federales y estatales decomisaron más de 550 mil plantas de mariguana
con un valor estimado de mil millones de dólares en los condados de la zona conocida como la
Appalachian, en el estado de Kentucky.
–A principios de junio de 2010 agentes antinarcóticos del estado de Arkansas encontraron 97
plantas de mariguana con un valor de 100 mil dólares que presuntamente cultivaban
narcotraficantes mexicanos en un parque público cerca de la ciudad de Fayetteville.
–En septiembre de 2009 agentes antinarcóticos de Tennessee cortaron 151 mil plantas de
mariguana sembradas cerca del parque estatal Indian Mound, en la frontera con el estado de
Kentucky.
La autora de Cártel sostiene que la participación de los narcotraficantes mexicanos en la
siembra de mariguana en Estados Unidos se explica por dos razones básicas: porque es aún la
droga con más demanda en el mercado local, y porque en algunos estados ya es legal su
consumo por prescripción médica. Esto hace que la hierba que se cultiva en el país se esté
convirtiendo en una competencia muy importante para la que proviene de México.
Longmire asegura que la siembra de estupefacientes en Estados Unidos se realiza con
métodos muy sofisticados y costosos, y advierte que los 640 guardabosques habilitados en
2010 en todo el país eran insuficientes incluso para vigilar las 773.53 millones de hectáreas de
los parques nacionales y estatales. Y eso lo aprovechan las organizaciones que trasiegan las
drogas.
Información de inteligencia sugiere que los cárteles más importantes de México están
directamente involucrados en gran parte de la siembra de mariguana que se realiza en terrenos
públicos. Sin embargo, ha sido muy difícil para el gobierno de Estados Unidos comprobar esta
conexión, en parte porque los individuos que cultivan las plantas no tienen idea de para quién
están trabajando y por ello dan muy poca información cuando se les arresta, explica la exoficial
de la Fuerza Aérea.
Dice también que otro de los elementos sobre el contagio de la narcoviolencia en Estados
Unidos es la creciente presencia de narcolaboratorios para la producción de drogas sintéticas.
Todos ellos son manejados por organizaciones mexicanas:
Para demostrar qué tan profunda es la infiltración de los cárteles mexicanos en el corazón de
Estados Unidos sólo hace falta mirar hacia el estado de Iowa, escribe Longmire.
En ese estado, las autoridades federales calculaban en 2004 que cada mes se creaban 20
laboratorios. De ahí que a Iowa se le conozca como “la capital mundial de las metanfetaminas”.
Por ello, en 2005 el gobierno federal prohibió la venta de precursores químicos para evitar la
producción de seudoefedrina. Tras la caída en la producción de drogas sintéticas en Iowa, los
cárteles mexicanos comenzaron a establecer laboratorios clandestinos para producir crystal,
otra droga sintética. En 2008, las autoridades locales descubrieron 35 laboratorios.
Reclutando jóvenes
Sylvia Longmire afirma que en Estados Unidos el contagio de la narcoviolencia de México tiene
elementos socioeconómicos. Sabedores de la pobreza que afecta a entidades como Arizona,
los narcos mexicanos comenzaron a reclutar a jóvenes estadunidenses. Escribe:
(Arizona) es un estado que sufre de una alta tasa de desempleo, razón por la que muchos
ciudadanos estadunidenses en su desesperación por la necesidad de empleo y de dinero se
están involucrando en este negocio.
Los encargados de reclutar a personas para los cárteles regularmente ofrecen manojos de
dinero en efectivo a los nuevos reclutas que son contratados para pasar drogas, dinero y armas
por varios puntos de la frontera México-Estados Unidos.
Los capos mexicanos insisten en introducir al mercado estadunidense cargamentos de cocaína
procedentes de Sudamérica a través de aviones ultraligeros que tiran su carga en el desierto de
Arizona, narra Longmire en su libro:
En tan sólo seis meses entre octubre de 2009 y mediados de abril de 2010, las operaciones
aéreas y marinas de la Oficina de Aduanas y la Patrulla Fronteriza (CBP) en Riverside,
California, detectaron 193 incursiones sospechosas y confirmaron el cruce de 135 aviones
ultraligeros.
En mayo de 2010 el Comando de Defensa Aérea de la Frontera Norte ordenó a dos aviones
caza F-16 interceptar un avión ultraligero que cruzaba por la frontera sur de Arizona. Los cazas
lo persiguieron por un espacio de 30 minutos antes de que éste volara de regreso a México…
Tanto las consideraciones humanitarias como las legales han prevenido que el gobierno de
Estados Unidos derribe durante sus vuelos a los aviones ultraligeros, lo que hace todavía más
difícil su captura.
Las conclusiones de Longmire son crudas y contrastan con las que esgrime el presidente de
México, Felipe Calderón. Según ella, no hay ninguna duda de que los cárteles mexicanos se
transformaron en un ejército de “narcoterroristas”. La manera en que matan, secuestran y se
defienden del Ejército mexicano, dice, es prueba fehaciente de que en México ya hay
narcoterrorismo:
Muchos de estos actos (de violencia de los cárteles) son similares en su naturaleza a aquellos
que cometen las organizaciones terroristas como Al Qaeda, las Fuerzas Armadas
Revolucionaras de Colombia (FARC) y el Ejército Republicano Irlandés (ERI), e iguales sus
intenciones,
… Las decapitaciones y el desmembramiento de cuerpos son actos típicos para algunas de
estas organizaciones y que ahora se han convertido en una marca de los cárteles (mexicanos)
cuando quieren enviar un mensaje fuerte al gobierno o a sus rivales.
Y suelta un dato revelador: En 2008 fuentes del gobierno de Estados Unidos involucradas en la
lucha antiterrorista reportaron que el cártel del Golfo en ese momento era incapaz de
enfrentarse directamente con el Ejército mexicano. Por esta razón, el liderazgo del cártel del
Golfo decidió usar tácticas insurgentes en contra el Ejército porque les daría una ventaja sobre
éste, y estuvieron en lo correcto.
Para la exoficial y analista de información de inteligencia de la Fuerza Aérea de Estados
Unidos, el problema de la narcoviolencia y narcoterrorismo que generó en México la lucha
militarizada de Calderón es un callejón sin salida.
El diagnóstico de Longmire es lapidario: La guerra mexicana contra las drogas no se podrá
ganar… La mayoría de los mexicanos podría decir que la vida no era perfecta ni pacífica antes
de que Felipe Calderón asumiera la Presidencia (el 1 de diciembre de 2006), pero
definitivamente era menos sangrienta.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sylvia Longmire This is a overview of Mexican Cartels. The chapters cover the formation of the cartels and how they came to power. What drugs they distribute and how the grow , produce, transport and sell them. It also tells of the many faceted relationship between the US and Mexico. OK read but this is a short overview not a deep dive into any one subject or cartel.

[Andrea Ciannavei · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's good. A bit conservative in it's POV. But a great way to begin to wrap your mind around the issue.

[Robert Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers a great introduction to any reader looking to gain understanding into the dark underworld of drug cartels.

[Doug Cornelius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sylvia Longmire worked as a senior intelligence analyst for the California state fusion center and the California Emergency Management Agency’s Situational Awareness Unit, focusing almost exclusively on Mexican drug trafficking organizations and southwest border violence issues. For the last six years, she has regularly lectured on terrorism in Latin America at the Air Force Special Operations School’s Dynamics of International Terrorism course. She has packaged some of her knowledge on the US-Mexico drug war in Cartel.

When the publisher offered me a copy of the book to review, it caught my eye because of last year’s travel warnings about violence in Mexico. From news reports, it seemed that the violence around the drug wars had spilled over into previously safe tourist areas. Longmire theorizes that the Mexican cartels are behaving more like the Colombian cartels and combining traditional criminal activity with insurgency against the government, military, and law enforcement.

The big insight I picked up from the book is the US contributions to the Drug War. There is the obvious contribution of cash from the purchasers of the drugs. The other big contribution is guns. Lots and lots of guns. The easiest source of weaponry for the Mexican cartels is at the lax gun shops in the southwestern United States. At one end you have the very strict gun sale laws in California. At the other, you have the gun-friendly state of Texas, with a limited background checks, no waiting periods, and no license requirement. There is little inspection on the way south into Mexico to stop the flow of guns.

Longmire paints a bleak picture for the future of Mexico. Even the current enforcement by Mexican president Felipe Calderon seem to have mere displaced the violence into other areas of Mexico. This week���s Economist put together a great infographic showing the huge number of murders and the changes in murder rates throughout Mexico.

It’s probably not fair to Longmire that I read Cartel after just finishing Michael Lewis’s Boomerang. Lewis is master of weaving his thesis around characters to create a coherent narrative. Longmire’s narrative reads more like a collection of blog posts. What I found lacking was detail on the major cartels themselves. Longmire provides only a little insight to the people behind them and their history.

If you have even a passing interest on Mexican violence, Cartel is worth a few hours of your time.

from http://dougcornelius.com/2011/11/cart...

[Becki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary from B&N: Having followed Mexico's cartels for years, border security expert Sylvia Longmire takes us deep into the heart of their world to witness a dangerous underground that will do whatever it takes to deliver drugs to a willing audience of American consumers. The cartels have grown increasingly bold in recent years, building submarines to move up the coast of Central America and digging elaborate tunnels that both move drugs north and carry cash and U.S. high-powered assault weapons back to fuel the drug war. Channeling her long experience working on border issues, Longmire brings to life the very real threat of Mexican cartels operating not just along the southwest border, but deep inside every corner of the United States. She also offers real solutions to the critical problems facing Mexico and the United States, including programs to deter youth in Mexico from joining the cartels and changing drug laws on both sides of the border.\nI picked up this book after my hairdresser (thanks, Alison!) mentioned it because the author is a client at her salon (go to Buckingham studios in O�Fallon!).\nIt was�wow�a lot more intense (as in some gruesome details my stomach was barely strong enough to handle) than I expected. But it was also eye-opening and taught me a lot about the drug wars in Mexico, the effect on the U.S., the cartels who control, etc. I had no idea (I do seem to be saying that a lot recently after taking in a non-fiction read).\nHaving lived in Tucson, which is two hours from the border, I think I should have been more aware. Nope. Totally clueless. Did you know that cartels are growing marijuana in our state and national parks?!?! \nI loved all of the information details packed into this book. And that Longmire doesn�t just look at it as a �Mexico problem.� Because the issues affect the United States in many ways and, let�s face it, people in the U.S. are huge consumers of illegal drugs that are pushing up from Mexico. And the fact that our weapons go south to arm the drug war�I hadn�t realized that before.\nI think what I like best, though is that Longmire does offer solutions. They�re not short-term solutions. But they are something � and better than saying �here are all the issues and there is no hope.� In fact, she even points some to the changes the current president of Mexico has already made that are making a small dent.\nAnyway, good reading on a current �in the news� topic.\n\n

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not saying Longmire arrives at the wrong conclusions, but this book seems a little sloppy. English is no obstacle for better accounts,

For example:

Drug War Zone - an on the ground account of the El Paso/Juarez plaza.

Amexica - a truly risky foray into border conflict zones, which a crappy title, but good content.

Last Narco - decent account of Chapo Guzman's rise to power.

Sicario: The Autobiography of a Mexican Assassin - unflinching look at the sicario lifestyle as told by someone who has lived it.

To Die in Mexico - an important look at the societal impacts of the drug war in Mexico.

I implore readers to dig a little deeper.

[Joni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in preparation for an off-site event that we are participating in this fall, where the author is appearing. It provides a good analysis of the brutality we see along the border and how it has affected the Mexican communities that are confronted with the potential for violence on a daily basis. The author also suggests areas where we need to look seriously at our own policies. A thoughtful book that offers many insights into the "drug wars".

[Yvette Dominguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book if you want an intro into the many groups that are in charge/held accountable for stopping drugs and undocumented immigrants from coming in to the U>S> and firearms from going out.... it's a major task with minimal resources... also, it's a war at our footsteps and nobody is quite alarmed yet...we should be proactive instead of passively waiting for the situation to get worse---read it, you'll see.

[Zach · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay.

If you are interested in this topic I recommend

El Narco or The Last Narco.

This is not a very detailed or insightful examination of the Mexican drug cartels.

There is not a great deal of information which is not in other books/articles.

The book reads like a lenghty feature article that would have appeared in a Sunday newspaper.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

The interaction that I received from Mexicans while reading this book in Mexico was good. The drug 'problems' we have are many faceted. How we solve or improve the status of those who use versus those who sell fits right in with the rest of our political, social, and health issues.

[Tbone · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book. really opened my eyes as to how much drugs are coming across from Mexico and how many weapons are leaving US arriving in mexico. crazy. and the marijuan grows in our national parks. just crazy stuff

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exhaustive and authoritative, without ideology. Mostly intensely sympathetic to the plight of Mexicans under the shadow of the drug war there.

[Maka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and well researched. An overview of the effects of the Mexican drug cartels and their illegal operations on the US and Mexico.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource for persons with an interest in how cartels work and how it affects our country.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

You'll rethink that next trip to Mexico.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little dry for the subject matter but very informative.

[Kyle Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Third of the way in, seemed like the same old rehashed info, arguments

[Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly written and researched. The book is very meandering and is in desperate need of a good edit.

[Tyson Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Longmire's book is packed full of facts and history about the history of the Mexican drug cartels and the drug war. It was extremely useful for a research paper that I was working on.

[Laura Kramer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is obviously very outdated. Most examples the author cites are from 2007-2008. I thought the author was almost racist with the way she talked about Mexican people (and not just horrible narcos, but also Mexican politicians, leaders, police, laborers, community members and immigrants). In 2017 this book is pretty much irrelevant.