The terrible toll of Mexico's war

There is a war under way which is threatening the stability and security of a nation of almost 110 million people.

It is not a war between the armies of nation states.

It is a war being waged in Mexico between rival criminal syndicates for control of the lucrative drug trafficking trade into the United States and is one of the most vicious and brutal conflicts in the world today.

While there are no official figures for the number of deaths, the Mexican government estimates that more than 40,000 people have been murdered since 2006.

Thousands more are said to be missing.

The majority of the deaths are presumed to be members of the two largest drug cartels, Los Zetas and the Sinaloa Federation or Cartel, both considered to be among the most powerful and violent criminal syndicates in the world.

However, among those killed over the past several years are Mexican military personnel, police, politicians, lawyers, journalists and US Government officials.

The slaughter is increasingly indiscriminate.

Last week more than 50 mutilated bodies were found dumped next to a highway, with spray-painted messages warning of further violence.

The savagery of the conflict is shocking.

It is common for authorities to find dozens of bodies each week, often decapitated and bearing signs of torture before a grisly death.

In one particularly grotesque incident, nine bodies were hung by the neck from a bridge over a major highway in a blatant display of brutality.

Part of the challenge for the Mexican government is that that drug syndicates are funded from the profits of a hugely lucrative market.

It is impossible to put an accurate figure on the value of the global drug trade for, self evidently, criminal networks do not report on their activities.

However, in 2005 the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that at that time drug production was worth approximately $13 billion, increasing in value to almost $100 billion at the wholesale stage and more than $300 billion at the street level.

Ironically, the Mexican cartels are believed to have grown in strength after the successful efforts of the Colombian government and international law enforcement agencies to quell the activities of Colombian drug barons.

Mexican networks, previously sub-contracted by the Colombian drug lords to transport drugs, have moved to fill the void left after the Colombian crackdown.

The cartels are assumed to have taken control of large parts of the supply chain, with the drug wars spreading to other parts of Central America.

Mexico President Felipe Calderón describes the murderous activities of the cartels as an attempt to take over the actual running of the country.

Since coming to power in late 2006 Calderon has deployed large numbers of police and military against the cartels.

While there has been some success in capturing a number of the leading figures, others have quickly filled the roles, and the flow of blood on the streets of key Mexican cities continues unabated.

In a deeply worrying incident on 24 April this year, a car was set alight during office hours outside a building housing the State Attorney General in Nuevo Laredo.

Soldiers from the Mexico army were deployed to the area and quickly came under attack from cartel gunmen.

While no soldiers were killed, the incident attracted attention as it appeared to be a deliberate ploy by the cartels to engage directly with the Mexican military.

The two main fronts of this war are key sea ports for the importation of the drugs and Mexican towns and cities close to the United States border.

Cartels are undermining the fabric of Mexico's justice system by targeting judges and police with execution style killings, now a preferred method over mere bribery and corruption.

The United States is providing significant support to the law enforcement efforts of the Mexican government.

The horrible truth is that demand for drugs from within the United States is fuelling the cycle of violence in its southern neighbour.

Australia is not immune, for this war has implications for any nation that forms part of the web of demand for drugs including cocaine.

The battle for control of Mexico's streets will be bloody but should the government not win this war, the global consequences could be too dreadful to contemplate.