I have genuine questions, they are not rhetorical. Are street drugs in fact Mexico's most valuable export to the United States? I suspect they could well be just that.
If the cartels produce a very large share of Mexico's export earnings, how can the government of Mexico not protect them? What would replace the money they bring in? How would she explain to her subordinates the absence of criminal payoff subsidies to their lifestyles? Produce employment for the cartels' newly unemployed pistoleros? Replace the retail purchases of well-paid cartel employees?
The bottom line: If we could wave a wand and stop cartel activity tomorrow, wouldn't Mexico be in recession the day after?
