Newsbriefs
6/4/99
CANADA: The Vancouver, BC Police Department this week proposed installing 22 video surveillance cameras in the Downtown Eastside, prompted by a recent increase in drug-related crime in the community. The residents of the area are debating if the cameras will be effective in reducing crime and if the increased security that the police expect the cameras will bring is worth undermining their civil liberties. Some believe that the cameras will only displace criminal activity and infringe upon personal privacy. Critics of the idea do not think that cameras are the answer. "We need more detox centers. We need more policemen on the beat," resident Lee Donough told the Vancouver Sun. Others contend that safe streets can justify the loss of privacy. The installation of the video cameras will cost area residents an estimated $400,000. MEXICO: A report released this week by the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) charges that a prominent Mexican family has ties to drug trafficking and money laundering. The report says it bases its findings upon information gathered by various federal law enforcement agencies about Carlos Hank-Gonzales and Carlos and Jorge Hank-Rhon's involvement in the drug trade. The family controls a multi-billion dollar transportation, construction and financial empire. Carlos Hank-Gonzalez, who ended his career in politics in 1994, was mayor of Mexico City and held two positions in the cabinet of President Carlos Salinas de Gortori. He used his position as minister of agriculture to aid current president Ernesto Zedillo in his election. The Hank family has denied all allegations in the report and claims that the report is politically motivated and designed to embarrass the Zedillo government. WASHINGTON, DC: The House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources has announced that it will conduct hearings on drug legalization and decriminalization on June 16. The hearings, entitled "The Pros and Cons of Legalizing Illegal Narcotics and Decriminalization," will be the first specifically devoted to the issue since 1988. Representatives from the Cato Institute, the ACLU, The Lindesmith Center, and the Drug Policy Foundation have reportedly been invited to speak.
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