Federal Report of Mexican Drug Cartel Activity in US Said to Be Exaggerated Scott Higham, Sari Horwitz and Steven Rich - The Washington Post
go to original August 26, 2013

In a 2011 report, the National Drug Intelligence Center said Mexican drug-trafficking organizations had a presence in more than 1,000 U.S. cities. Most of the cities are shown above. Drug policy analysts say the number is misleading because it relies heavily on self-reporting by law enforcement agencies, not on documented criminal cases. (National Drug Intelligence Center/The Washington Post)

WASHINGTON — When Sen. John McCain spoke during an Armed Services Committee hearing last year on security issues in the Western Hemisphere, he relayed a stark warning about the spread of Mexican drug cartels in the United States.

“The cartels,” the Arizona Republican said, “now maintain a presence in over 1,000 cities.”

McCain based his remarks on a report by a now-defunct division of the Justice Department, the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), which had concluded in 2011 that Mexican criminal organizations, including seven major drug cartels, were operating in more than 1,000 U.S. cities.

But the number, widely reported by news organizations across the country, is misleading at best, according to U.S. law enforcement officials and drug policy analysts interviewed by The Washington Post. They said the number is inflated because it relied heavily on self-reporting by law enforcement agencies, not on documented criminal cases involving drug-trafficking organizations and cartels.

The Post interviewed local police officials in more than a dozen cities who said they were surprised to learn that the federal government had documented cartel-related activity in their communities.

Read the rest at The Washington Post

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