There it was either sold locally or distributed to other U.S. cities. CONCLUSIONS: THE FUTURE The Mexican cartels have historically been very adaptable, professional and efficient operations. A number of other government officials have been investigated for their ties to El G1. of chocolate bars. Mayor Enrquez Herrera had apparently forgotten that Alma Reyes Guerra, the mayor of San Dimas, had just recently watched her father be kidnapped and killed by cartel hitmen in the middle of his mayoral campaign. drugs, weapons and other items will be made available to the Federal Public It is widely believed that Peniche's bank, Banco Union, assisted in laundering the donations, and then wrote them off as bad debts through the deposit insurance fund (FOBAPROA), which in essence allowed Peniche's bank to re-coup those funds by drawing upon tax dollars. By 1997, it appeared that Colombia's drug cartels were going to die out. What the Mexican people do not like and are becoming increasingly intolerant to is the militarization of the U.S.-Mexican border. In the past five years there have been five very public murders in which the organized crime interests have most certainly played a role, and they are of particular note. This outraged the Mexican leadership and resulted in a 1998 agreement that limits the ability of U.S. agents to work in Mexico. Associated Press, "Mexican poll: Cops mistrusted," 9/17/96, internet. In January of 2000 for example, there was a running fire fight near El Paso, Texas between several U.S. law enforcement officers and several Mexican military personnel who had driven across the border in broad daylight. As a response to this changing market, the cartels will need to both diversify, and get involved in other markets. Resendiz, Rosalva, "International auto theft: An exploratory research of organization and organized crime on the U.S./Mexican Border," Criminal Organizations, Vol 12 (1/2), 1998. The town of Los Herrera is located at 15.6 kilometers from Santiago Papasquiaro, which is the most populated locality in the municipality, in the Southwest direction. law enforcement agencies were well acquainted with the Herrera organization and As would be expected, Colombia's political scene is quite different from that of Mexico. for those questioning los Herrera, they waged war against RR and lost. Minor changes in substance, but major in that they were the first real chip in the PRI shield and its party-state model. Cleansing the military of its drug trafficking culture will surely be a profoundly difficult undertaking. We don't have a clear idea of what that means." AFP, "Mexico's Fox calls for US-Canadian fund to close 'development gap'," 8/19/00, internet. The Juarez Cartel, run by the then extremely powerful Carrillo Fuentes, became even stronger after Gulf Cartel leader, Garcia-Abrego, was arrested in January of 1996. 11. Additionally, the unemployment projections indicate record levels due to the regional economic recession - an estimated 9.5 percent unemployment rate is anticipated for 1999 (AFP, 2/28/99). He operated the Gulf Cartel after the arrest of Garcia-Abrego in 1996, but its leadership is now in the hands of Oziel Cardenas Guillen as noted previously. Different accounts have Raul Salinas, the Gulf Cartel, the Tijuana Cartel, and various members of the PRI party behind the murder. The U.S. National Drug Control Policy Director Barry McCaffrey visited Colombia during the summer of 2000, and committed to additional $500 million per year aid package, bringing the total U.S. government support of "Plan Colombia" to $1.3 billion. With more than $6 billion a year of much needed U.S. currency pouring into the Mexican economy from legals and illegals working north of the border, half of which likely comes from illegals (the so-called 'wet-back dollars'), American law enforcement can expect little serious help from the Mexican government in this arena (AFP, 10/30/00). The military has used these unique abilities to their advantage, and have largely stayed out of the cocaine and heroin business, though they do provide security for clandestine airstrips operated by cocaine and heroin traffickers. There are 653 inhabitants. AFP, "Mexico turns down request for extradition to US of methamphetamine king," 7/20/99, internet.