Money Goes South, $39B Worth

The El Paso Times reported recently that $18 to $39 billion dollars worth of drug money goes from the U.S. south to Mexico every year, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office. The U.S. government, via Customs and Border Protection, seized $41 million of these dollars last year.

We wrote about this last week, when a Texas lawmaker proposed a bill to have police check southbound traffic for such irregularities. We also wrote about how everyday U.S. citizens are smuggling guns to Mexico.

What it comes down to is that both of these issues, the guns and the money, testify to the fact that Mexico’s problems are the U.S.’s problems. Drugs are consumed here, money is paid for them here, and all of this affects Mexico. When and if Mexico spirals out of control, guess where the violence’s next stop will be.