Mexican drug cartels thrive in suburban Atlanta

State Rep. Doug McKillip was quick to note his political position at my home closing, inviting me to direct any concerns I might have to his attention. I immediately accepted his invitation by calling for a crack down on illegal immigration. Doug shrugged it off as a federal issue, though he agreed that it needs to be addressed "sooner than later". If there is any doubt, read the news about the drug war raging in Mexico, and how it is expected to driver more immigrants north into the U.S., along with more drugs and crime. How can the U.S. expect to handle such an exodus on top of the 14-20 million who are already here and multiplying at 3 times the rate of U.S. citizens?

Again, I point to my proposal from 2007:
http://stateofnature.net/immigration.html

Now, here we are in 2009 with this news:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/03/19/atlanta.drug.cartels/index.html

From the article:

"In fiscal year 2008, authorities confiscated about $70 million in drug-related cash in Atlanta, more than anywhere else in the United States, the Drug Enforcement Administration says. This fiscal year, Atlanta continues to outpace all other U.S. regions in such seizures, with $30 million confiscated so far. Next are Los Angeles, California, with about $19 million, and Chicago, Illinois, with $18 million. "There is definitely a center of this type of drug activity here, and we are working to make sure the violence does not spill out to the general public," Atlanta U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said.

Atlanta has become a stopping point for truckloads of Mexican cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine, agents say. "

Authorities also point to the growth of the Hispanic population in Atlanta, which allows practitioners of the Mexican drug trade to blend in among hard-working, law-abiding Hispanics.

No place is that more evident than in Gwinnett County, a community about 20 miles north of Atlanta.

Gwinnett's Hispanic population rocketed from 8,470 in 1990 to 63,727 in 2000, according to the U.S. Census. By 2010, 20 percent of the county's projected population of 700,000 is expected to be Hispanic.

"In Gwinnett County, the drug dealers are able to hide in plain sight," county District Attorney Danny Porter said. "To combat this, we have to be much more coordinated between my office, the police department and the federal authorities. The presence of the organizations is a dilemma enough that we have to develop new tactics."

Federal agents say arrests and drug-related violence in Atlanta have been linked to the two most powerful Mexican organizations: the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels. The fear is that the battle will extend deeper into the United States..."