There’s no doubt that drug-fueled violence in Mexico, particularly along the border, is a serious problem, fed by drug demand in the U.S. and the relative ease with which money and weapons make their way south across the border. In all, the situation is a clear example of how the U.S. approach to drug policy is a failure.
Now, in an attempt to bust up cartels and other criminal gangs, Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, has joined forces with Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to introduce the Texas Racketeering and Corruption Act (HB 1618), giving the AG’s office the power to file suit against individuals and/or organizations involved in criminal activity and to seize assets and profits of their criminal enterprise. “This landmark legislation would give the state an opportunity to dismantle violent gangs and organized criminal activity similar to the powerful, mafia-busting federal RICO Act,” Peña said in a press statement. “We can inflict some heavy damage to these gangs and cartels by not only jailing…individuals but by bankrupting their criminal enterprises.”
Whether this would have some meaningful effect by itself (that is, without a corresponding shift in drug policy, for example, in the case of drug trafficking cases), or whether it is simply another way to put more money back into the same-old drug war enforcement tactics, remains to be seen.
This article appears in February 20 • 2009.