Drug Lord: Cartels Are Omnipotent

The right-hand man of Mexico's most notorious drug boss says the country's war on the trade is futile.

Ismael "el Mayo" Zambada, the right-hand man of Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, said in an interview the illicit business would never be brought down because millions of people were involved.

Zambada says the supply of drugs will continue even if cartel bosses are caught or killed.

He blamed the government for surging drug violence and said president Felipe Calderon was being duped by his advisers into thinking he was making progress.

"One day I will decide to turn myself in to the government so they can shoot me ... they will shoot me and euphoria will break out. But at the end of days we'll all know that nothing changed," Zambada told the investigative news magazine Proceso.

"Millions of people are wrapped up in the narco problem. How can they be overcome? For all the bosses jailed, dead or extradited their replacements are already there."

The U.S. has placed a $5 million bounty on Zambada. Without doubt, he's a bad guy but his words have merit. It's virtually impossible to draw a line between the good guys and the bad guys in Mexico and the narcotics distribution network has a life of its own. It arguably makes little difference who is in charge.

Any rational assessment would likely conclude that Mexico, as a nation, will never be able to arrest the narcotics problem on its own. Intervention is necessary. I volunteer the French. Then France can achieve retaliation for its dismal defeat by the Mexicans at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862. Source

Companion post at Diggers Realm.