Mexico Human Smuggling

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Mexico Human Smuggling

Market Overview

According to author .Moises Naim, the FBI estimates that " the Mexican people trade earns the networks $6 to $9 billion each year.¹

Mexico Black Markets

Market Value:
$7.5 Billion

Source: Moises Naim, Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats are hijacking the global economy, (New York: Doubleday, 2005), pg. 88.

MARKET INFORMATION

In the border crossing area of Arizona alone, State Officials believe that the smuggling business is worth $2 billion a year.²

Of the 6.2 Million unauthorized migrants in the United States, over 90% of people crossing the Mexican border in the late 1990's were believed to have paid a guide for their services.³

In 2007, 870,000 illegal immigrants were arrested by US Border Patrol Agents on the border.⁴

HUMAN SMUGGLING PRICES FROM MEXICO:

Recent reports coming out of Mexico states that the price to be smuggled into the Untied States has risen due to the increased attention on border crossings. According to a report by the Associated Press, the price to be paid to be smuggled into the United States now stands around $3,000, up from the $2,000 quoted in recent months.⁵ This is also up from the average price of $1,398 in 2004 that was listed in an internal Border Patrol document reviewed by the Associated Press.⁶

International crime expert Peter Andreas stated in the San Diego Union Tribune that due to the increase in fees, " Smugglers have more resources to use for corruption, and they have a greater incentive to devote money for corruption" ^.7 The article states that of the 172 Department of Homeland Security workers who are currently under suspicion for corruption, 72 are assigned to the border between the United States and Mexico.⁸

Sources:

1. Moises Naim, Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats are hijacking the global economy, (New York: Doubleday, 2005), pg. 88.

2. Dennis Wagner, " Human trafficking's profits spur horrors," Arizona Republic, July 23, 2006, http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0723drophouse-main2.html (accessed: July 25, 2006).

3. Ken Ellingwood, Hard Line: Life and Death on the U.S. -Mexico border, (New York: Pantheon, 2004) pg. 85.

4. Tim Gaynor, "U.S. turns to horses to secure borders," Reuters, January 23, 2008.

5. AP, " Mexico's migrant-smugglers hike rates," Yahoo! News, June 14, 2006, http://news.yahoo.com/

6. AP," AP: Many Immigrant Smugglers Not Prosecuted," Yahoo! News, May 18, 2006,

7. Onell R. Soto, " At border, rise seen in corrupt workers" , San Diego Union Tribune, October 22, 2006, http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20061022-9999-1m22corrupt.html (accessed: October 23, 2006).

8. Ibid.