Whack-a-mole: Knocking down the kingpins

Knocking down the kingpins - Editorial - Los Angeles Times: "Recent high-profile arrests of drug cartel leaders in Mexico give reason for optimism. But drugs continue to flow across the border into the U.S. ...

The arrests are certainly a positive development, and could lead to a reduction of violence. But fluctuations in the homicide rate alone are not a reliable metric for progress. When violence rises, the Calderon administration attributes the increase to its unprecedented challenge to drug traffickers. When it falls, the administration attributes the reduction to stepped-up law enforcement efforts.

If the long-term goal is to halt the movement of narcotics from Mexico to the United States, then a better measure of progress is just that: the drug flow. So far, four years and 30,000 deaths after Calderon began cracking down on the cartels, Mexico still supplies most of the foreign marijuana distributed in the U.S., much of the methamphetamine and a substantial percentage of heroin. Also, the State Department estimates that 90% of the cocaine entering the country passes through Mexico. The cartels' wholesale drug earnings range from $13.6 billion to $48.4 billion annually." Dec. 5, 2010