Impunity of Drug Trafficking in Acapulco: Impact on Population - Research Paper

Abstract

Acapulco is now famous in another domain following the continuous occurrence of criminal activities rather than the attractive features at the beach formerly embraced by tourists from all over the globe. Drug trafficking has significantly risen, and effects are felt even far beyond the borders of the country. This paper reports on the impact of violence and the impunity of Drug Trafficking Organizations on the Population of Acapulco, Mexico. The research uses a mixed-method whereby both quantitative and qualitative approaches are applied. The method is chosen to offset the limitations associated with the individual method. The particular techniques will be questionnaires, interviews, document analysis, questionnaires, and focus groups. The plans have advantages for their selection, some limitations expected of their use for the research purpose. The research is also based on a literature review where multiple research articles are considered to collect adequate background information on the topic of the research. The findings reveal that cartels are a significant force behind the occurrence of drug trafficking and the impunity involved. Besides, the government has failed to implement effective control measures making drug trafficking and the associated violence to thrive. Consequently, the population of Acapulco is adversely affected, and the previous desirable features are fast fading away.

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Introduction

Acapulco continues to gain fame globally, and the cause is currently traced to drug-related violence, which makes an insecure place. Acapulco serves as the most famous beach resort destination in Mexico, which meets the international standards due to the various attractive features like the golden sand, natural beauty environment, warm seawater tropical weather, and the people. While it is that famous, travel to the destination is currently discouraged due to the fear of safety, which is not guaranteed. Acapulco, which has been a destination to many, is presently characterized by severe violence. Besides, drug trafficking is another social evil that has been occurring for many years and has a direct influence on the rampage in which many lives have been claimed in the course. The business is a crucial concern for the United States Department of Justice which considers Drug Traffic Organizations (DTO) as illegal command and control structures operating from Acapulco, Mexico and works on transporting and supplying drugs to over 22 states in the United States (Espinal-Enriquez & Hernan Larralde, 34). Violence and subsequent deaths have been severe problems and occurring as both short and long-term impacts. While the activity from the region is a threat to other places, including the neighboring countries, there are adverse effects even to the population of Acapulco itself. The evil activities associated with the DTO are beyond control, and impunity implies that Acapulco remains an insecure place. The driving force behind the privilege of the DTO is also associated with the continuous interventions of the Cartels in Acapulco. Gang violence has continued to plague the beach of Acapulco from as early as 2010 and causing severe problems to the population, including several deaths that have been recorded each year since then. This paper reports on the research findings on the impact of violence and the impunity of Drug Trafficking Organizations on the Population of Acapulco, Mexico.

Research Method

The research will utilize a comprehensive method, including all the essential aspects of the methodology. This justifies the need for the use of a mixed research method, which will allow the researcher to accomplish the collection, analysis, and integration of the qualitative data into the quantitative findings. According to Baskarada and Koronios (8), the comprehensive nature of the research method will be essential for many reasons; I will guarantee a relatively complete understanding of the problem of the research. Besides, it will also provide the opportunity for developing better instruments that are specific to the context. Most importantly, the method is used as a way of offsetting the weaknesses of each technique; for instance, the quantitative method is not sufficient in exploring and understanding contexts of problems, which is, however, quickly addressed by qualitative approaches.

On the other hand, the latter exhibits some form of weaknesses regarding objective reasoning from an occurrence, which is well tackled through the use of the former, which best analyses the relationships. The primary research method will be document analysis, and the other techniques will be the use of questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, and observations. This section discusses the specific methods which will be used to conduct sufficient research on the topic. This includes the justification for the choice of the techniques presented through advantages while covering the possible limitations that the researcher may experience while using them.

Document Analysis

The researcher will refer to the documents already published on the topic for an informed understanding of the issue and concepts associated with the subject under inquiry. This will involve studying articles and the data published in the government websites to inform the research inquiry. The criterion for the choice of the articles will be based on quality control, which will become evident in the articles published in popular journals. Journals articles exhibiting credibility covering the qualification of the authors and the relevance to the topic of study will be used as a way of assessing their suitability for the research exercise.

The analysis will be based on studying the themes across the articles. The thematic analysis will be based on the prevailing ideas in the articles attempting to address the issue of violence and impunity and its impacts on the population of Acapulco, Mexico. Further analysis of the identified themes and findings will reveal the trend and will, therefore, adequately inform the findings and conclusions in this research.

Document research will be valuable in gaining background information about the topic and reveal the trends concerning the areas which are worth researching. Baskarada and Koronios (18) argued that this will also reveal the areas which have always been avoided by research projects, which implies additional interventions; this is about the research gaps that will be identified and which will make the basis for informing the studies on the topic in question. However, the approach may have some disadvantages, like limiting the scope of the research in question. The background information obtained from the published research articles may determine what the current study may cover hence reducing the possibility of further exploring the topic. Nevertheless, document analysis will be the primary method for collecting data and the follow-up activities for the possible conclusion on the research topic.

Questionnaires

The researcher will also use questionnaires where series of questions will be formulated in line with the research purpose; it will be utilized for the interaction with the respondents who will source of primary data on the topic of the study. While questionnaires can be administered as a face to face approach to data collection, the current research will give out the documents containing the questions to respondents who will be able to respond to the questions when it will be most convenient for them.

Questionnaires will be an effective instrument based on its ability to provide a relatively cost-saving experience besides being an efficient way of gathering adequate data within a relatively short period. According to Gray (498), quick and efficient data collection will be possible due to the convenience that the researcher will have; the researcher will not necessarily have to be present at the data collection scene. This will become important since at specific points when the practicality of interviews is not possible. This recognizes the nature of security and the need to consider the safety of the researcher; they will just administer and come back later on agreed time to collect the written responses.

The method will also be advantageous following the elimination of the instances of observer bias. The researcher will give the resource person time to reorganize and respond when they get time. They will have the opportunity to communicate their intended aspects without the influence of an observing researcher as in the other. This solves the possible cases of bias, which would otherwise affect the reliability of the researcher and the subsequent findings.

However, it is essential to note that possible limitations will still be expected and may adversely affect the nature of the research. One of the problems is the lack of honesty, which may not be easy for the researcher to realize. One needs to have motored as they provide information that may not be guaranteed in this approach as they are left to with no supervision. They may quickly determine what they inform the researcher by copying from each other. Besides, while it is the best way to collect data from the employees of an organization, it may be difficult for the researcher to determine when the respondents are free to respond to the questions. It may take too long for the researcher to complete the exercise, therefore, reducing the desired level of convenience owing to the time allowed.

Interviews

The researcher will also use semi-structured interviews to balance the freedom given to the resource persons and control over the quantity of information they may provide on the topic. The semi-structured nature will have a certain level of the element of open-ended whereby they are allowed the opportunity to give an adequate explanation to meet the qualitative requirement when needed to understand the aspect of impunity and violence and how they affect the population at Acapulco. On the other hand, some questions will limit their responses to ensure that they remain within the scope of the research. While this may limit the quantity of data, it is a strategic way of contributing to the reliability and relevance of the data obtained and the ultimate findings to be presented.

The approach is chosen for several advantages, which makes it one of the best methods; for one,it involves the physical and face-to-face intervention for the researcher proving the opportunity to read the behaviors of the resource persons and assess their honesty. It is complicated for the respondents to lie when in the presence of the researcher in that their non-verbal cues will communicate some essential details and should be relevant to what they speak (Gray 450) Reliability is a crucial aspect of the researcher in this topic, and the project will achieve this requirement by this method. The advantage is based on data recording by the researcher, whic...