As the demand for drugs in the United States has increased, the amount of drug trafficking cartels in the United States has increased commensurately. Every cartel, or group of people that controls the production and distribution of drugs and other illegal substances, is trying to earn its place in the multibillion-dollar black market. Violence is used to capture and maintain trafficking routes and ports into the United States. That makes the more than 2,000-mile border between the United States and Mexico a war zone for cartels fighting each other and law enforcement. Cartels use immigrants who want to enter the United States as mules to transport drugs when they enter the United States. Constant tension between the US and Mexican governments and the cartels has increased as the violence continues and worsens. Cartels have played an important role in U.S.-Mexico relations as the U.S. has cracked down on foreign drug policy and violence at the border and in Mexico through the Merida Initiative and Beyond. Drug policies in the United States are now targeting the root of the problem; cartels in Mexico pushing illegal substances across the border. As violence has increased on both sides due to cartels and drug trafficking, the U.S. government has made great strides to help Mexico address its problems in an effort to stop the cartels at the root. The United States hopes to stop human and drug trafficking routes along the border, at ports of entry into the United States, and above and below the fence. To move drugs, cartels use immigrants entering the United States as vessels to transport their drugs. The drugs are sent to people or somehow incorporated into cars as they pass through. Border security has been increased to stop attempts...... middle of paper ......n Relationships. Council on Foreign Relations, March 5, 2014. Web. May 14, 2014."The Merida Initiative: Expanding the U.S./Mexico Partnership." US Department of State. U.S. Department of State, March 29, 2012. Web. May 15, 2014.Perez, Catherine E. Shoichet. Evan, Nick Parker, Ray Sanchez, Mike Martinez and CNNMexico.com. "'El Chapo' Guzman: How the world's most wanted drug lord was finally arrested." CNN. Cable News Network, February 24, 2014. Web. May 14, 2014Thompson, Ginger. “United States Expands Role in Battle Against Mexican Drug Cartels.” The New York Times. The New York Times, August 6, 2011. Web. May 15, 2014. "U.S.-Mexico Partnership: A New Vision of the Border." US Department of State. U.S. Department of State, March 23, 2010. Web. May 15, 2014.Ware, Michael. "Los Zetas is called the most dangerous drug cartel in Mexico." CNN. Cable News Network, August 6, 2009.hbg Web. May 15 2014.