War on illegal drugs

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Drug anarchy in Mexico...

Mexican president seeks help from public to beat crime
01 September 2008 : President Felipe Calderon called on all Mexicans to help fight escalating crime, a day after tens of thousands protested against insecurity and impunity across the country.

Violence has spiked across Mexico since Calderon, who took office at the end of 2006, launched a crackdown on drug trafficking and related attacks, including the deployment of more than 36,000 soldiers nationwide. As Calderon met with protest leaders, police in the southern state of Guerrero reported the discovery of the head of a 50-year-old man in an ice cooler, making a total of 19 headless bodies found since Thursday across the country, and adding to a total of almost 3,000 murders this year. Angry citizens across the country's 32 states took part in Saturday's "Iluminemos Mexico" or "Let's Illuminate Mexico" protests, dressed in white and carrying candles, to show a united front against against violence. Some 200,000 protested in Mexico City, police said, while more than 84,000 demonstrated in other towns and cities, according to La Jornada daily.

Calderon said Sunday that the protests "start a new period marked by the great force and energy with which we can face criminality," and called on citizens to help official crime-fighting efforts. The Mexican leader called for the creation of citizens' committees to denounce violence in all Mexican states and large municipalities, in an address to journalists at his Los Pinos residence. The groups would "serve to denounce (crimes) and promote a culture of participation and denunciations," Calderon said, after meeting protest organizers from businesses and citizens groups. Calderon said that most of the proposals they had delivered to him were already included in some 80 promises made at a national security summit 10 days ago. Those included a purge of corrupt police, and the creation of a national citizen's observatory. He also admitted authorities had been guilty of "incompetence or outright corruption."

"We are very satisfied with the result of this meeting. We believe it's an important step," said Alberto Nunez, president of one of the citizen groups, Society in Movement. The organizers later met with the left-wing mayor of Mexico City, Marcelo Ebrard, who promised to provide them with comprehensive information about security forces in the capital, they said. Mexico has now overtaken Colombia and Iraq with its kidnapping record, a rights group said recently, and most kidnappings are reported in Mexico City, with police or ex-police frequently accused of involvement.

One rights group reported 400 kidnappings so far this year in Mexico, compared with 438 for the whole of last year. Many believe that two or three more kidnappings occur for each case reported. The recent kidnapping and assassination of a Mexico City teenager from a wealthy family, in which police were involved, was the trigger for Saturday's protests. Organizers the demos had hoped to emulate similar mass marches in 1997 and 2004 which forced the government to carry out purges of the notoriously corrupt police and other reforms, provoking short-term improvements.

Channelnewsasia.com

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Chavez not much help...

Venezuela: No anti-drugs pact with US
Sun Aug 31, `08 - Venezuela on Sunday rejected U.S. requests to resume cooperation in the war on drugs, saying it has made progress despite an alleged fourfold-gain in the amount of Colombian cocaine now passing through its territory.

In the latest barb-trading over the issue, Venezuela dismissed U.S. attempts to renew talks on drugs as "useless and inopportune," saying U.S. officials should focus on slashing demand for drugs at home rather than blaming setbacks on other nations' supposed lack of cooperation. "The anti-drug fight in Venezuela has shown significant progress during recent years, especially since the government ended official cooperation programs with the DEA," Venezuela's foreign ministry said in a statement. President Hugo Chavez suspended cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in August 2005, accusing its agents of espionage.

Since then, Venezuela has refused to help U.S. officials combat drug trafficking, White House drug czar John Walters said. U.S. law enforcement has detected a wave of flights that depart Venezuela and drop large loads of cocaine off the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, while other multi-ton loads are moved by boat and air to west Africa — a way station for shipments to Europe, Walters said. He said the flow of Colombian cocaine through Venezuela has quadrupled since 2004, reaching an estimated 282 tons (256 metric tons) last year.

On Sunday, Chavez responded angrily to Walter's comments, calling him "stupid" for suggesting that drug smuggling through Venezuela has increased. Chavez also took issue with recent statements made by U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy, saying the diplomat is risking possible expulsion from Venezuela and would soon be "packing his bags" if he's not careful. Duddy told reporters on Saturday that deteriorating diplomatic relations between Caracas and Washington are giving drug smugglers the upper hand.

Source

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Comin' soon to your town...

Mexican drug wars threaten U.S.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - 'Deadly force' spills over border

An escalating turf fight between warring drug cartels in Mexico is spreading into the United States with federal officials warning that deadly shootouts and ambushes along the southwestern border pose a serious threat to both U.S. law enforcement and American citizens, according to a confidential multi-agency government report. The Aug. 29 report predicts a rise in the use of "deadly force" against U.S. police officials, first responders and residents along the border, and further spillage of drug-gang violence deeper into the United States.

Written by the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (AcTIC) and the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Investigative Support Center, the report also said the drug cartels are expected to hire members of deadly street gangs now in this country, including Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), to "carry out acts of violence against cartel members in the U.S." "U.S. law enforcement and first responders need to maintain a heightened awareness at all times," the report said.

According to the report, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times, cartel members and police officials in Mexico, in a bid to spare their families from the violence that has overwhelmed many Mexican border towns, could begin relocating them to the United States, resulting in more homicides and home invasions along the southwestern border, increased availability of high-powered weapons to Mexican drug smugglers already in the U.S., and the potential for the family members to continue drug operations in the U.S.

The report also predicted an increase in assaults against illegal immigrants and rival cartel members in this country, suggested that the presence of cartel members in the U.S. would allow them to gather intelligence on police enforcement activities, and would facilitate their "transport of weapons and currency southbound in tractor trailers." While not widely reported throughout most of the U.S., the increased border violence is not new to the federal, state and local law enforcement authorities assigned along the 1,951-mile U.S.-Mexico border.

Thousands more U.S. Border Patrol agents have been assigned to the region as part of a Department of Homeland Security strategy to gain "operational control" of the border. As a result of the increased pressure, the cartels have resorted to more violent means of guaranteeing their drug loads into the United States.

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Mexican Police Uncover Secret Border Tunnel to U.S.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008 : Police investigating suspicious activity at a home just south of the U.S.-Mexican border found a group of men digging a secret tunnel to the United States — complete with lights, an elevator and air-conditioning.

Acting on a reports of armed men outside, cops raided the house in the border city of Mexicali and found eight workers 20 feet underground digging a tunnel with picks and shovels, according to Baja California state police spokesman Agustin Perez.

The narrow passage — only about 3 feet wide and 3 feet high — stretched some 100 yards toward Calexico, Calif. But the tunnel still had another 100 yards or so to go until it reached the U.S, Perez said. The sophisticated tunnel is one of 70 discovered since 2000.

Another police official, Juan Manuel Guillen, told KSWT.com that police searching the home found a .38 special revolver, digging tools and a Ford F-350 truck that was used to remove the dirt. The eight suspects, ranging in age from 27 to 52, were taken into custody. It is not known who they were working for.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,415241,00.html

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Peru seizes cocaine shipment...

Police seize 2.75 tons of cocaine in Peru
September 8, 2008 -- Twenty arrested with reported ties to Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel; Police believe cocaine headed to Europe, worth $125 million; Official: Drugs hidden in Lima warehouse, camouflaged in a load of shock absorbers

Peru police have seized 2.75 tons of cocaine headed to Europe and arrested 20 members of an international drug ring in Peru's capital, Lima.

Interior Minister Luis Alva said police arrested 13 Peruvians, four Mexicans and three Colombians assumed to be linked to the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel. Alva said the drugs were hidden in a warehouse in Lima, camouflaged in a load of shock absorbers for maritime ports.

Alva said Monday that the arrests were made at various points in Lima on Friday. Police also seized cash, four vehicles and a freight elevator. Police believe the cocaine was headed to Europe, where it is worth $125 million.

Police seize 2.75 tons of cocaine in Peru - CNN.com

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Mexico needs Merida anti-drug program money...

Mexico urges US to release anti-drug aid package
Tue Sep 9, `08 - The Mexican government is urging the United States to release a US$400 million package of anti-crime aid approved by the U.S. Congress in June.

Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Patricia Espinosa says the U.S. Congress is still analyzing supporting documents that were requested of Mexico.

But Espinosa says Mexico needs the aircraft, inspection equipment and other aid as soon as possible. Espinosa told reporters on Tuesday that "we are insisting that we need the equipment," and "we hope it will come very soon."

For almost two years, Mexico has deployed tens of thousands of federal police and soldiers to combat increasingly violent turf battles between drug cartels.

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Amphetamine use increasing in Asia
10 Sep 2008, Demand for amphetamines, Ecstasy and other synthetic drugs appears to have stabilized in the West, but the problem is worsening in Asia and spreading to new markets in the Middle East, a UN report said on Tuesday.

Manufacturing and trafficking of illegal stimulants is also getting more sophisticated, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said in a 2008 assessment that pointed to the growing involvement of local and international crime syndicates. Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the UN agency, warned that amphetamine-type drugs are seen as “a cheap and available tonic for our fast and competitive times.”

In North America and Europe, where pill popping is largely recreational, demand has leveled off or even declined in recent years thanks to effective controls on the chemicals used to make them. But in fast-growing developing countries, where the drugs are often used to boost stamina on assembly lines or to keep drivers awake behind the wheel, use is on the rise.

"The problem has shifted to new markets over the past few years," the UN report said, adding that, even so, production appears to have stabilized worldwide at about 551 tons (500 metric tons) annually. The market, retail and wholesale, also has remained steady at around US$65 billion since 2001. Asia is still driving demand, with nearly half the region's countries reporting increases in methamphetamine use.

But the most dramatic shift has been in the Middle East, where seizures of amphetamine-type stimulants accounted for a staggering 25 per cent of the global total in 2005-2006, up from just 1 per cent in 2000-2001, the UN said. The largest market in that region was Saudi Arabia, a trend apparently linked in part to a growing number of migrant workers, with more than 12 tons (11 metric tons) of amphetamines seized two years ago.

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More drug murders in Mexico...

24 corpses found shot in Mexico
13 Sept.`08 - Investigation under way to determine if killings were a result of organized crime; Bodies found in Atlapulco, just south of Mexico City; Estimated 1,500 killings in Mexico this year linked to organized crime

Twenty-four corpses were found bound and shot execution-style in the Mexican city of Atlapulco on Friday, according to Humberto Benitez, secretary-general of government in the State of Mexico.

A criminal investigation is now under way to determine if the killings were a result of organized crime, a news release from Mexico's attorney general said Friday. Atlapulco is just south of Mexico City. The killings come roughly two weeks after tens of thousands of Mexicans marched on the nation's capital calling for greater government action to prevent the wave of violent crime sweeping the country.

Non-governmental groups estimate there have been more than 1,500 killings in Mexico this year linked to organized crime. In late August, Mexican President Felipe Calderon met with the country's 32 governors to develop a plan to battle the nation's alarming rise in violent crime.

Source

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Uh-oh, now the druglords got grenades...

7 Killed In Mexico Grenade Attack
Sept. 16, 2008 - 2 Grenades Thrown Into Crowd Of Mexican Independence Day Revelers; More Than 100 Injured

Assailants threw two grenades into a huge crowd of Independence Day revelers, killing seven and injuring more than 100 in a brazen attack that escalates the war between Mexico's army and drug gangs. The military fragmentation grenades shattered a family friendly gathering of thousands in the cobblestone streets not far from where President Felipe Calderon grew up. He urged Mexicans not to be afraid and met with Michoacan Gov. Leonel Godoy, promising to find those responsible and redouble security efforts in the violent state. However, in a country increasingly terrified and outraged by both drug violence and common crime, the attack drove home a tragic message: No place is safe.

"These illegal acts were clearly attacking our national security, committed by true traitors who have no respect for others or for the country," Calderon said. "Those who believe they can use fear to hold our society hostage and immobilize us are mistaken. ... They are doomed to fail." Since taking office in 2006, Calderon has sent more than 25,000 soldiers to confront the cartels that move marijuana and cocaine into the United States, and the gangs have responded with daytime shootouts, assassinations, beheadings and massacres.

Calderon first deployed troops to Michoacan, where two of Mexico's major drug gangs are fighting for control of lucrative smuggling routes that include the large Lazaro Cardenas port, stretches of Pacific coastline and remote pine-covered mountains. The fighting has made Michoacan one of the most violent states in Mexico, with frequent shootouts and gruesome decapitation-killings. The latest attack came during the traditional "grito," or shout for independence, late Monday night. Godoy had just finished shouting "Viva Mexico!" from a balcony, when the two grenades exploded simultaneously in the crowd, blocks apart. At first, the throngs of families thought the explosions were part of the fireworks display. Then thick, black smoke rose from the crowd, people started screaming and the cathedral's bells fell silent. As the crowd cleared, rescuers attended to the wounded and dead.

Both state emergency officials and state prosecutors said seven were killed, although there were earlier reports that the death toll had risen to eight. Godoy, who was unhurt, said witnesses saw a heavyset man wearing black throw one of the grenades, then beg forgiveness for what he had done. But he provided no more details, and there were no immediate claims of responsibility. Authorities made no arrests. "Without a doubt, we believe this was done by organized crime," he said.

More 7 Killed In Mexico Grenade Attack, 2 Grenades Thrown Into Crowd Of Mexican Independence Day Revelers; More Than 100 Injured - CBS News

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Mexican gov't. gonna combat kidnappings...

Mexico plans anti-kidnap police
Saturday, 20 September 2008 - Mexico's finance minister says that violence and crime is affecting the economy, cutting growth by 1%.

The Mexican government has created a specialist police force to tackle the level of kidnapping in the country, among the highest in the world. The authorities say so far this year more than 650 people have been abducted in Mexico a huge rise on last year. Mexico's National Security Council says all 32 states will get an extra 11.5m pesos ($1.1m; £580,000) in funding to set up the anti-kidnapping units.

The move was proposed at a security summit last month. They were responding to mass protests - triggered by the abduction and murder of a 14-year-old boy - which brought 100,000 people on to the streets of the capital last month calling for tougher punishment for serious crime.

Corruption allegations

Violence has escalated in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon came to power in December 2006, despite his deployment of more than 40,000 soldiers to try to curb the power of the drug cartels. This year alone there have been 3,000 drug-related murders, but kidnappings often receive less media coverage. Although officials say there have been more than 600 abductions this year, human rights groups point out that up to two thirds of all kidnappings may actually go unreported.

They also accuse corrupt police officers of involvement in the practice. Among other measures the security council is considering is the creation of high-security prisons for kidnappers, and standardising anti-abduction laws across Mexico. Mexicans will be hoping that the tougher line on kidnapping, and a related commitment to purge corrupt police officers, will create the safer society their president promised when he was elected.

BBC NEWS | Americas | Mexico plans anti-kidnap police

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Another Mexican drug massacre...

12 tortured bodies found by school
September 30, 2008 - THE bodies of 11 men and one woman were found next to a primary school in Tijuana, Mexico, an hour before children were to arrive.

The Associated Press reports the bodies, most of which had been bound and tortured, were partially clothed. Minutes later, four other bodies were found in another empty lot. AP reports investigators believe the 16 victims were killed by warring drug gangs.

Spokesman for the Baja California Attorney-General’s office Jose Manuel Yepiz told AP a piece of cardboard was found with the 12 bodies near the school, with the message: “This is going to happen to all of those who are with the engineer for being blabbermouths”.

He said the message found with the other four bodies read: “I’m not a traitor but I don’t like to be in the company of cowards”. AP reports Tijuana has been hit hard by violence as drug cartels battle for smuggling routes into the US.

12 tortured bodies found by school | NEWS.com.au

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Mexican president proposes stronger drug laws...
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Mexico's Calderon targets drug traffickers
October 1, 2008 -- Calderon's announcement comes hours after grisly killings in Tijuana; Tijuana is major transit point for drugs from Mexico to the United States; Security plan would better coordinate federal and local police, Calderon says; Calderon has tightened controls on money laundering and corruption in police

Mexican President Felipe Calderon Tuesday sent Congress a security plan intended to cut the influence of narcotics traffickers. "Drugs just cancel the future of our youth and open the door to illicit activities," he said in a televised address, urging the plan's passage. His announcement came hours after a spate of grisly killings occurred in the western border town of Tijuana, just south of San Diego. Three bodies were found stuffed inside chemical drums on Tuesday, 12 others were found in an otherwise empty lot next to an elementary school on Monday. Some were bound, their tongues cut out. Two other bodies were found during the weekend. Most, if not all, the killings were the result of turf battles between rival drug gangs, officials said.

Tijuana's two main drug gangs, the Arellano Felix cartel and the Gulf cartel, have been vying for control of Tijuana because the city has long been a major transit point for drugs from Mexico to the United States. More recently, it has also become a market for drugs consumed there. Intelligence analysts say that cartels in Colombia have been paying gang members with drugs, meaning the gangs have had to find local marketplaces to sell them. Calderon has unleashed federal police and soldiers in several states across the country and tightened controls on money laundering and corruption among local and municipal police forces, which have allegedly been infiltrated by drug traffickers. The effort has resulted in widespread carnage, with more than 3,000 deaths this year alone.

Calderon's plan would better coordinate federal and local police, seek to root out corruption and establish bases "so we are all integrated into a system of national public security," Calderon said. The plan would establish police crime-investigation processes that would safeguard respect for the law and human rights and would increase the penalty for selling drugs to minors, he said. "Only with stronger laws can we gain on the criminals who threaten the security of our communities and who try to poison the children of [Mexico] with drugs," Calderon said. He called on his fellow Mexicans to help. "To win the battle against crime, it is fundamental that the society get involved in this fight," he said. Last month, tens of thousands of Mexicans filled a massive plaza in front of the National Palace demanding an end to the violence.

Mexico's Calderon targets drug traffickers - CNN.com