Rethinking the 'Spillover' Effect of Mexican Violence

Comment:  While I agree with the assessment below the US is not on the verge of a spillover of violence, the greatest threat posed right now is the development of infrastructure that sets the conditions for an increase of violence to occur at a sustained level.  An increase of attacks is only going to occur when they know they have nothing to fear or lose.  This is why the violence is so bad in Mexico now...the problem was ignored when it was nascent.   In otherwords, if one gives sanctuary to a termite the house is eventually going to come down.  Then it is too late.  Mexico is going down, its' only a matter of time.  End comment.

Rethinking the 'Spillover' Effect of Mexican Violence

U.S. border-state politicians have been saying for years that Mexico’s drug violence is on the verge of spreading like wildfire through the American southwest. Although the facts fail to match up with this rhetoric, some recent developments add weight to the "spillover" theory.

According to the newspaper, the report says Mexican drug trafficking organizations have affiliates in at least 1,286 cities in the U.S., of which 143 are directly report to cartel leaders. At the top of the list is Sinaloa Cartel, which operates in 75 cities, followed by the Gulf Cartel (37), the Zetas (37), the Juarez Cartel (33), the Beltran Leyva Organization (30), the Familia (27), and the Tijuana Cartel (21).

Despite this grim news, there is no evidence to support claims that the U.S. is on the verge of experiencing anything close to the level of brutal violence that has hit Mexico.