Drugs Cartels Prey off of Undocumented

The clamp down on the drug cartels' smuggling along the Mexican border has driven smugglers into the same desert corridors that migrants choose to cross illegally into the U.S.. This had created new hardships for the migrants. Moving along the same paths as the "bureros" -- smigglers who carry marijuana or cocaine into the country -- subjects them to the dangers of assault and robbery. The Cartel have begun to tax the coyotes and even engage in human trafficking -- often tied to smuggling drugs. Some analysts see in this one factor in the decline of undocumented crossing of the border, (See Los Angeles Times article.)