Caption Above: Family and friends attend the funerals of three female victims of a massacre that left 13 dead and more than a dozen wounded in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in 2010. Most of the victims were between 14 and 20 years old and were attending a birthday party. They were herded into a corner of the house and executed by a firing squad. Armed men came looking for one young man, but when the patrons responded that he was not there, they opened fire. Photo taken from Slate by Dominic Bracco II/Prime
Cocaine is evil in many ways, but one alarming fact is that extreme violence is involved at every level of the cocaine trade. Its simple economics of supply and demand. There is high demand, and competitive underground suppliers have to illegally supply it to consumers, involving brutal violence. Who drives the violence coming through the Mexican cocaine cartels? US citizens do… Americans enjoying their hip little parties, or perhaps at New Year’s Eve celebrations, or college students from around the US who come from well-off families (the future clients of drug treatment programs), THAT’S WHO! The economics of cocaine trafficking are profound. South Americans make it, people in between move it, Americans buy it. Read the story written by By Erik Vance in The Slate (click here).