How Smuggling Human Beings Across The Border Has Become More Lucrative Than Drugs (6/20/24)

The Epstein Chronicles

Mexican cartels have diversified their criminal activities beyond drug trafficking to include human smuggling and trafficking. Here’s a summary of how they have entered and operate in the human trafficking business:Entry into Human Smuggling

1. Diversification of Criminal Activities: As law enforcement efforts have intensified against drug trafficking, cartels have sought new revenue streams. Human smuggling has become a lucrative alternative.
2. Geographic Advantage: Mexico’s location, bordering the United States, provides a strategic advantage for smuggling people seeking to enter the U.S. illegally.

Human Trafficking Operations

1. Smuggling Networks: Cartels have established extensive smuggling networks that span across Central and South America. They often collaborate with local gangs and corrupt officials to facilitate the movement of people.
2. Extortion and Exploitation: Migrants are often subjected to extortion, with cartels charging exorbitant fees for their passage. Many migrants are held in squalid conditions until their families pay ransom.
3. Violence and Coercion: Cartels use violence and threats to control and intimidate migrants. Those who cannot pay or refuse to cooperate are often subjected to brutal treatment or forced into labor or sex trafficking.
4. Corruption: Corrupt law enforcement and border officials play a crucial role in enabling human trafficking operations, allowing smugglers to bypass checkpoints and other security measures.
5. Safe Houses and Transport: Cartels use a network of safe houses to hide migrants as they move northward. They employ various methods of transport, including trucks, buses, and even makeshift rafts, to ferry people across borders.
6. Complex Financial Operations: The proceeds from human trafficking are laundered through complex financial operations, similar to drug money laundering, making it difficult for authorities to trace and disrupt the financial flows.

Impact and Challenges

• Humanitarian Crisis: The involvement of cartels has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis at borders, with migrants facing increased risks of violence, exploitation, and death.
• Law Enforcement Challenges: The clandestine nature of human trafficking and the cartels' sophisticated methods pose significant challenges to law enforcement agencies aiming to combat these operations.

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source:
Mexican drug cartels offer migrants VIP package for passage into US (usatoday.com)
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