Money, Drugs, Guns and Urban Decay

We have discussed in the past, the troubles of Mexico as it tries unsuccessfully to beat the drug cartels .....

Mexican Cartel Leader Arrested

A battle that it increasingly looks like its losing.

This view seems to be confirmed by the a 2019 list of the 50 of the world's most dangerous cities compiled by the Citizen's Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice in Mexico. 

These were (- murder rate per 100,000):

1. Tijuana, Mexico - 138
2. Acapulco, Mexico - 110.50
3. Caracas, Venezuela - 99.98
4. Victoria, Mexico - 86.01
5. Juarez, Mexico - 85.56
6. Irapuato, Mexico - 81.44
7. Guayana, Venezuela - 78.30
8. Natal, Brazil - 74.67
9. Fortaleza, Brazil - 69.15
10. Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela - 69.09
11. Cape Town, South Africa - 66.36
12. Belem, Brazil - 65.31
13. Cancun, Mexico - 64.47
14. Feira de Santana, Brazil - 63.29
15. St. Louis, United States - 60.59
16. Culiacan, Mexico - 60.52
17. Barquisimeto, Venezuela - 56.67
18. Uruapan, Mexico - 54.52
19. Kingston, Jamaica - 54.12
20. Obregon, Mexico - 52.09
21. Maceio, Brazil - 51.46
22. Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil - 50.75
23. Baltimore, United States - 50.52
24. San Salvador, El Salvador - 50.32
25. Aracaju, Brazil - 48.77
26. Coatzacoalcos, Mexico - 48.35
27. Palmira, Colombia - 47.97
28. Maturin, Venezuela - 47.24
29. Salvador, Brazil - 47.23
30. Macapa, Brazil - 47.20
31. Cali, Colombia - 47.03
32. Celeva, Mexico - 46.99
33. San Pedro Sula, Honduras - 46.67
34. Ensenada, Mexico - 46.60
35. Campos dos Goytacazes, Brasil - 46.28
36. Tepic, Mexico - 44.89
37. Manaus, Brasil - 44.00
38. Guatemala, Guatemala - 43.73
39. Recife, Brazil - 43.72
40. Distrito Central, Mexico - 43.30
41. San Juan, Puerto Rico - 42.40
42. Valencia, Venezuela - 42.36
43. Reynosa, Mexico - 41.48
44. Joao Pessoa, Brazil - 41.36
45. Nelson Mandela Bay - South Africa - 39.16
46. Detroit, United States - 38.78
47. Durban, South Africa - 38.51
48. Terisina, Brazil - 37.61
49. Chihuahua, Mexico - 37.50
50. New Orleans, United States - 36.87

The rankings are calculated using the average number of homicides per 100,000 residents (for context the world average is 5 per 100,000), some of which were estimated using non governmental figures due to the lack of transparency from many countries in the list. The list only includes cities that do not fall within 'official war zones' ... although this distinction is increasingly blurred, as criminals are often better armed than the police/security forces in many countries.

The US Drugs And Gun Connection With Mexico

In the 2019 report, Mexican cities pushed both Brazil and Venezuela down the listings, as drug gangs battled it out for control of its cities, and indeed the Washington Post states that over the past decade, approximately 2.5 million illicit US guns have reportedly flowed into Mexico, including the .50-caliber sniper rifle, that was “used by US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to strike targets from nearly two miles away,” further fuelling the violence.

The later figures of the world's most dangerous cities for 2021 - have merely confirmed the rise of Mexican cities as the worlds most dangerous;

1. Celaya, Mexico - 109.38
2. Tijuana, Mexico - 105.15
3. Juarez, Mexico - 103.61
4. Ciudad, Mexico - 101.13
5. Irapuato, Mexico - 94.99
6. Ensenada, Mexico - 90.58
7. St. Louis, United States - 87.83
8. Uruapan, Mexico - 72.59
9. Feira de Santana, Brazil - 67.46
10. Cape Town, South Africa - 64
11. Cumana, Venezuela - 62.42
12. Fortaleza, Brazil - 62.28
13. Mossoro, Brazil - 62.21
14. Guayana, Venezuela - 62.1
15. Zacatecas, Mexico - 59.22
16. Baltimore, United States - 56.45
17. Kingston, Jamaica - 54.46
18. Acapulco, Mexico - 54.13
19. Caracas, Venezuela - 52.82
20. Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil - 52.47
21. New Orleans, United States - 51.78
22. Mandela Bay, South Africa - 51.19
23. Maturin, Venezuela - 51.03
24. Memphis. United States - 50.99
25. Culiacan, Mexico - 49.41
26. Cuemavaca, Mexico - 48.62
27. Morelia, Mexico - 47.46
28. Salvador, Brazil - 46.8
29. Detroit, United States - 45.8
30. Distrito, Central Honduras - 44.57
31. Durban, South Africa - 43.38
32. Chihuahua, Mexico - 42.87
33. Rio Branco, Brazil - 41.85
34. San Pedro Sula, Honduras - 41.19
35. Colima, Mexico - 41.1
36. Maceio, Brazil - 39.4
37. Reafe, Brazil - 38.5
38. Cucuta, Colombia - 37.75
39. San Juan, Puerto Rico - 37.68
40. Cali, Colombia - 37.56
41. Johannesburg, South Africa - 37.19
42. Barquisimeto, Venezuela - 36.71
43. Caruaru, Brazil - 36.41
44. Benito Juarez, Mexico - 36.31
45. Victoria, Mexico - 35.46
46. Natal, Brazil - 35.09
47. Leon, Mexico - 35.07
48. Teresina, Brazil - 34.79
49. Minatitian, Mexico - 34.67
50. Valencia, Venezuela - 34.65

The latest report is notable for two items;

1. The rise of  Celaya from not being on the list in 2018 to top. Which is apparently because the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG) are battling around the city over control of oil theft, drug trafficking and other criminal rackets.
2. The appearance and rise of the US cities New Orleans, St Louis, Baltimore, Memphis and Detroit who all now regularly appear in the list.
   

This is a worrying trend for the USA as it had largely been immune to the troubles south of the border, but it now looks as though some cartel seepage is reaching its cities as well via the drug trade which has infiltrated US cities, both North and South, East and West (including Fentanyl from both China and Mexico - the opoid drug of choice for many whites, introduced by doctors giving unscrupulous drug prescriptions). 

However all these US cities on the list are also sharing one demographic similarity. 

White Flight Has Damaged American Cities

The phenomenon of 'White Flight' from many large urban centres, which has damaged many US cities both materially (such as Detroit) and economically. Leaving them with less taxes, de-industrialisation, urban decay, abandoned blocks, rising crime, and higher poverty levels. Basically drugs moved in, as hope walked out. 

All the five US cities now regularly listed in the worlds top 50 most dangerous cities report, have also experienced this same demographic phenomena in the last 40 or 50 years ... that surely can't be a coincidence.