Guardian of Lies (59 page)

The cartels are now centered in cities such as Tijuana, Nuevo Laredo, and Juárez, where scores of people are murdered daily in ongoing turf wars over who will control the drug trade. That these cartels have links to Middle Eastern terror groups should come as no surprise, since Al Qaeda and others generate much of their revenue for terrorist operations from poppy fields in Afghanistan and elsewhere and are believed to be well connected within the drug underworld.

It is also well known that the cartels and those smuggling illicit drugs into the United States have in the past used tunnels as the preferred method for shipping large quantities of “product” under the U.S.-Mexican border. As the American economy declines and revenue from illegal narcotics escalates, the cartels that already employ their own private forces armed with automatic weapons, including grenade launchers, become an even greater threat. The commander of the U.S. marine base at Camp Pendleton, California, recently posted Tijuana, Mexico, as off-limits to all marine personnel because it was judged to be too dangerous a venue for rest and tourism. U.S. marines can travel to Baghdad and Afghanistan, but they can no longer cross the border into Mexico without special permission. This should tell us something about the emerging dangers along our southern border.

STEVE MARTINI
is the author of numerous
New York Times
bestsellers, including
Shadow of Power, Double Tap, The Arraignment, The Jury, The Attorney,
and others featuring defense attorney Paul Madriani. Martini has practiced law in California in both state and federal courts and has served as an administrative law judge and supervising hearing officer. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.

www.stevemartini.com