As more and more media attention is focused on the drug wars occurring in Mexico and along the U.S. and Mexican borders, the realization that it is the U.S. appetite for drugs that is fueling the flames is often forgotten.
As more and more media attention is focused on the drug wars occurring in Mexico and along the U.S. and Mexican borders, the realization that it is the U.S. appetite for drugs that is fueling the flames is often forgotten.
Foreign nationals who appear at a US entry, but are inadmissible, are typically deported back to their home country. Foreign nationals who are already in the US are also subject to deportation if they engage in prohibited activity while here. Deportation of foreign nationals is regulated by Immigration & Nationality Act section 237.
It is much easier to get deported from, than be granted admission to, the United States. While the grounds of inadmissibility cover many non-criminal matters, the majority of the grounds of deportation deal with crime. Thus, it is not surprising that the federal government focuses most of its immigration enforcement resources on criminal aliens. Commission of a crime involving moral turpitude, commission of an aggravated felony, high-speed flight from an immigration checkpoint, failure to register as a sex offender, commission of a controlled substance violation (except simple possession of 30 grams of less or marijuana), being labeled a drug abuser or drug addict, commission of a firearms offense, commission of a natural security offense, or commission of a crime of domestic violence can make someone deportable.
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Horrible images of kidnap victims tortured and held for ransom have long been the norm in Mexico, the number one kidnapping capital of the world. There, judges, police officers and others are targeted by the Mexican drug cartels and abductions are as common as graffiti-marked buildings. But the kidnapping problem has spilled over to the United States, specifically to Phoenix, Arizona. America’s fifth largest city, Phoenix has a population of 1.6 million people, and covers an area of 517 square miles (larger than Los Angeles). The threat is ever-present on Phoenix streets – and has been since 2005 when the metro area gained the dubious distinction of America’s kidnapping capital. With its numbers right behind Mexico, Phoenix is the number two kidnapping capital of the world.
Numbers Tell the Story
The kidnapping problem in Phoenix, however, as widely reported by various news agencies in the past year, involves victims who are either illegal aliens or connected to the drug trade. Some officials have commented that all the Phoenix kidnappings are connected to illegal immigration but that the actual numbers (359 in 2007, a 10-year high, 366 in 2008, and 302 for the first 11 months of 2009) account for just one-third of the reported kidnappings taking place in the metropolitan area. People are just not reporting all the kidnappings.
The situation has gotten so bad that the fear is anyone who looks like they have money is in danger of being kidnapped. According to news stories, ransoms have ranged from $30,000 to $1 million. Some have even included demands for large drug loads. An L.A. Times story in February 2009 quoted Phoenix police saying that most every victim and suspect is connected to the drug smuggling world, usually tracing back to the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Phoenix police say many come from the Sinaloan towns of Guasave, Leyva, and Los Mochis.
While drug cartels control everything in Mexico, in the U.S., and Arizona in particular, it’s a slightly different story. Police say control by the cartels is weak in Phoenix, and the kidnappers with guns are the ones in power. And they use it.
Kidnappers reportedly recruit workers by going to popular bars in Phoenix such as Bronco Bar, Senor Lucky’s, and El Grand Mercado, according to the Times’ story.
Arizona has become the gateway to the U.S. for Mexican drug trafficking. Roughly half of all the marijuana intercepted along the U.S.-Mexican border is seized along the state’s 370-mile border, which is criticized as having a “lack of border security.”
Dealing with the “money drops” entails tying up 50 to 60 police officers for each ransom demand, officials say. That’s to ensure the protection of the officers as well as the victims.
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There is a theory that the criminal will always return to the scene of the crime. This theory rings true in the case of Michael Elkerton who broke into a hospital staff locker. Elkerton was caught when he returned to steal more property.
Read more about Drug Addiction Blamed for Extensive Rap Sheet
A heroin addiction was fueling the crimes committed by one James A. McDougal. He was sentenced last week, according to a piece in the Register Citizen. Before leaving the courtroom, McDougal apologized and blamed his crimes on his addiction.
One of the unintended consequences of drug addiction is that drug use supports violent drug cartels who cultivate and traffick the illegal drugs so in demand in the United States.
With the rise in the street value of and addiction to specific prescription drugs, pharmacies have become as attractive to thieves as banks. Throughout the country, pharmacies are being targeted not because they keep a substantial amount of cash in a vault, but because many of the pills on their shelves can catch as much as $10 each when sold on the street.
Read more about Man Charged in Pharmacy Robbery Suspected of 12 Separate Hits