prohibition fuels violence (image via Wikimedia)
Mexico Drug War Update
More bloody days in Ciudad Juarez, and violence flares in Veracruz as well.
Mexican Drug War
Texas Representative Says Drug Trafficking Organizations Threatening US Agents
Mexican drug trafficking organization members threatened to kill U.S. agents working on the American side of the border. Republican Michael McCaul said a law enforcement bulletin was issued warning that Mexican traffickers were overheard plotting to kill Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and Texas Rangers stationed along the border.
Maras and Zetas: An Alliance from Hell
Reports of the Zetas and Maras drug trafficking organizations doing drug deals together or assassinating mutual enemies have been floating around for several years. But human rights workers and police in southern Mexico and Guatemala say they have now formed a more concrete alliance, in which they work together on kidnappings and acts of intimidation and terror.
Mexico's Street Gangs Following Larger Drug Trafficking Organizations' Violence Blueprint
Recent decapitations and killings have residents on edge over whether local street gangs are mimicking larger drug trafficking organization violence in the nation's capital. "I think of these groups as cells, as franchises," said Alfredo Castillo, attorney general for Mexico state, the suburban area surrounding Mexico City. "As franchises what do they want? They want the know-how, the business model, and in the end, they want their backing in case of an extraordinary problem."
Poll: Mexicans Think Drug Trafficking Organizations Are Winning Drug Prohibition War
Six out of 10 Mexicans think that drug trafficking organizations are getting the upper hand in the prohibitionist war that President Felipe Calderon launched when he came to office in late 2006, the poll by Demotecnia found. The poll may augur a change in the country's approach to drug trafficking when a new administration takes over after elections next year.
the fruits of drug prohibition in Mexico (Image via Wikimedia)
Mexico Drug War Update
It was a rough week on the highway between Nuevo Laredo and Monterrey, and that's not all, not by a long shot.
230,000 Displaced by Mexico Drug Prohibition War, Half May Have Come to the United States
A new study by the Swiss-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Center that at least 230,000 people have been displaced in Mexico because of drug prohibition violence and that about half of them may have taken refuge in the United States.
US surveillance drones now in use over Mexico
Mexico Drug War Update
The US ambassador to Mexico resigns over Wikileaks, Mexico acknowledges allowing unmanned US surveillance drones over Mexico, a prominent trafficker is killed, a well-known musician is wounded. And of course, the threats and the carnage that have become usual since Calderon intensified the Mexican drug war continue unabated.
Ciudad Juarez
Mexico Drug War Update
Honduras's first cocaine lab is discovered, a New Mexico town's mayor and police chief are arrested for alleged gun running, a former Juarez Cartel boss will stand trial, and Ciudad Juarez suffers from the continued nightmare of drug trade violence (as do many other places).
Colombia Is No Model for Mexico's Drug Prohibition War (Opinion)
Sanho Tree at the Institute for Policy Studies reminds us that when Washington ramped up its anti-drug efforts through Plan Colombia, more than 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States came through Colombia. A decade later, we get about 97 percent of our cocaine via Colombia. President Barack Obama recently admitted that drug legalization was a valid subject for debate even though he didn't support it himself. That was the most daring admission made by any sitting U.S. president on this subject. If he's serious, we should stoke this debate before another 35,000 lives are needlessly lost. There are many alternatives in the spectrum between prohibition and total free market legalization.