Podcasts Other The Inquiry How Do Cartels Get Drugs into the US?

How Do Cartels Get Drugs into the US?

Published: Dec. 1, 2015, 2:06 a.m.

In November the US Drug Enforcement Administration issued its Drug Threat Assessment. Mexican \u2018transnational criminal organisations\u2019, it said, are the primary suppliers of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana to the United States. Drugs \u2013 the DEA says \u2013 are killing 46,000 Americans a year. But between Mexico\u2019s criminal enterprises, and their clients, is a vast expanse of difficult geography and an international border. So, how do cartels get drugs into the US? The Inquiry hears from serving US law enforcement personnel tasked with intercepting drugs shipments. Their stories \u2013 of tunnels, \u201cnarco-subs\u201d and complex criminal networks \u2013 are astonishing.

(Photo: Narco-Submarines, Credit: Reuters)