Mexican Pot Growers Face U.S. Competition

The shifting economics of the marijuana trade suggests that new market forces, as much as law enforcement, can exact a heavy price on Mexico's drug cartels.

Mexican marines recently went on a mission in the remote mountains of Sinaloa, Mexico, to destroy fields of marijuana. The marines prepare to hike the hour to the field, as the terrain is rough and will not allow their vehicles to pass.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

Mexican marines pull marijuana plants out by their roots, then burn the plans on site. To cut costs and avoid stepped-up interdiction at the U.S.-Mexico border, Mexican criminal organizations have begun shifting operations to grow millions of marijuana plants across the border, in U.S. national forests and public lands.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

Mexican traffickers still produce some 35 million pounds of marijuana and smuggle most of it into the United States, where it would be worth $20 billion once it crosses the border, according to the U.S. government.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

"In any scenario where you would legalize or further decriminalize the use and production of marijuana in the States, it would represent a big hit to the economy of the cartels. It is the single most important source of revenue for the drug traffickers," said Luis Astorga, a leading authority on the drug cartels at the Autonomous University of Mexico.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

A Mexican marine walks through a field of marijuana plants. In a field in the mountains of Sinaloa, Mexico, a pound of pot might earn a peasant farmer $25. The wholesale price for the same pound in Phoenix, Ariz., is $550.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

Mexican marines burn marijuana plants in a field. Mexican marijuana, often of poorer quality, sells for as little as one-tenth the price of premium American pot in the U.S. market.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

Although exact figures are not known, competition from U.S. producers threatens to cost the Mexican traffickers billions of dollars. More than 60 percent of the cartels' profits in 2006 -- $8.6 billion out of $13.8 billion -- came from U.S. marijuana sales, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

Gallery Credits:
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This Story Cartels Face an Economic Battle Article \| ARCATA, Calif. -- Stiff competition from thousands of mom-and-pop marijuana farmers in the United States threatens the bottom line for powerful Mexican drug organizations in a way that decades of arrests and seizures have not, according to law enforcement officials and pot growers in the United S... VIDEO: A Journey Into the 'Emerald Triangle' Mexican Pot Growers Face U.S. Competition More Domestic Cannabis		TOOLBOX E-Mail This Save/Share + Digg Facebook Reddit Twitter myspace del.icio.us NewsTrust Stumble It! COMMENT 0 Comments Your browser's settings may be preventing you from commenting on and viewing comments about this item. See instructions for fixing the problem. Discussion Policy CLOSE Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post. Who's Blogging » Links to this gallery		More on washingtonpost.com • More Photo News » washingtonpost.com
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