Are Mexico's Drug Cartels Taking Root Far North of the Border? McCarton Ackerman - The Fix
go to original April 1, 2013

Border states in the US have had to deal with the presence of Mexico's notoriously violent drug trafficking cartels for decades. But the groups are now extending their reach north, planting themselves deep into middle America, according to an investigative report from the Associated Press. The report found that the cartels are sending some of their most trusted agents to live and work in the cities and suburbs of states like Ohio, Kentucky and North Carolina.

Notorious drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was even recently named as Chicago's Public Enemy No. 1 despite never having set foot in the city. "It's probably the most serious threat the United States has faced from organized crime," says Jack Riley, head of the DEA's Chicago office. "People think, 'The border's 1,700 miles away. This isn't our problem.' Well, it is."

"These days, we operate as if Chicago is on the border," Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane told a legislative committee last February that Mexican drug cartels are "taking over our neighborhoods," while dozens of federal agents and local police interviewed by the AP said they have identified cartel members or operatives using wiretapped conversations, informants or confessions.

Read the rest at The Fix

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