DATE=9/23/98
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-41439
TITLE=MEXICO DRUGS
BYLINE=GREG FLAKUS
DATELINE=MEXICO CITY
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
///EDS: SPANISH ACT IN BUBBLE///
INTRO: IN MEXICO, DRUG-TRAFFICKING AND CRIME IN GENERAL HAVE
BECOME MAJOR THREATS TO SOCIAL ORDER. AS VOA'S GREG FLAKUS
REPORTS FROM MEXICO CITY, THE NATION'S ATTORNEY GENERAL FEARS A
NEW THREAT, THE RISE OF DRUG DISTRIBUTION AND CONSUMPTION WITHIN
NATIONAL TERRITORY.
TEXT: FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, MEXICO HAS BEEN THE MAIN
TRANS-SHIPMENT AREA FOR NARCOTICS DESTINED FOR THE U-S MARKET.
WHILE MEXICO HAS CARRIED ON A FIGHT AGAINST THIS ILLICIT TRADE,
WITH SUPPORT FROM THE UNITED STATES, MANY MEXICANS HAVE REGARDED
THE WHOLE PROBLEM AS ONE OF HUGE DEMAND FROM NORTH OF THE
BORDER. SOME OF THE DRUG TRAFFICKERS HAVE EVEN BEEN CELEBRATED
IN MEXICAN FOLK SONGS, KNOWN AS CORRIDOS.
/// ACT MUSIC ESTABLISH BRIEFLY, THEN UNDER AND OUT...///
BUT THE VIOLENCE ASSOCIATED WITH THE DRUG TRADE HAS REACHED
ALARMING LEVELS. THE ENTIRE NATION REACTED IN SHOCK TO LAST
WEEK'S MASSACRE OF AN ENTIRE FAMILY, INCLUDING SMALL CHILDREN,
NEAR THE CITY OF ENSENADA. THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY IS BELIEVED TO
HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE DRUG TRADE.
ANOTHER WORRY FOR MEXICANS IS THE EFFECT DRUGS MAY HAVE ON
DOMESTIC SOCIETY. HEALTH AUTHORITIES HAVE SEEN AN ALARMING
INCREASE IN DRUG ABUSE AMONG MEXICAN YOUTH IN RECENT YEARS.
ON TUESDAY, MEXICAN ATTORNEY GENERAL JORGE MADRAZO TOLD THE
CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES THAT DRUG TRAFFICKERS ARE TARGETING MEXICO AS
A DOMESTIC MARKET.
/// MADRAZO ACT (SPANISH) ///
MR MADRAZO SAID NARCOTICS SMUGGLERS ARE NOW PAYING SOME OF THEIR
SUBORDINATES WITH DRUGS INSTEAD OF CASH. HE SAID THE DRUG
SMUGGLERS MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THESE DRUG PAYMENTS ARE TO BE
MARKETED HERE IN MEXICO AND ARE NOT BE TAKEN OVER THE BORDER.
THE MEXICAN ATTORNEY GENERAL SAID THIS REPRESENTS A REAL THREAT
TO MEXICAN SOCIETY. HE ALSO UNDERSCORED THE NEED TO COMBAT
CORRUPTION WITHIN THE MEXICAN POLICE FORCES.
/// MADRAZO ACT (SPANISH) ///
MR MADRAZO SAID DRUG TRAFFICKERS CORRUPT MEXICO'S SECURITY FORCES
WITH WHAT HE CALLED "A RIVER OF GOLD." HE SAID THE ENORMOUS
AMOUNTS OF MONEY GAINED FROM THE DRUG TRADE PROVIDE THE
SMUGGLERS WITH RESOURCES THE GOVERNMENT IS OFTEN HARD-PRESSED TO
MATCH. MR MADRAZO SAID THE INFLUENCE OF THE DRUG CARTELS HAS
REACHED HIGH LEVELS OF THE GOVERNMENT, INCLUDING THE ATTORNEY
GENERAL'S OFFICE.
RECENTLY, MEMBERS OF AN ELITE POLICE FORCE TRAINED IN PART BY U-S
OFFICIALS WERE IMPLICATED IN AN INVESTIGATION OF SMUGGLING
ACTIVITIES AT MEXICO CITY'S INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. IN SPITE OF
THIS ALARMING NEWS MEXICAN OFFICIALS HAVE STRESSED THAT MOST OF
THE SPECIAL POLICE UNITS FORMED TO COMBAT THE DRUG TRADE ARE
CARRYING OUT THEIR DUTIES AND ARE REJECTING OPPORTUNITIES TO
ENRICH THEMSELVES BY BETRAYING THEIR COUNTRY.
THE PROBLEM OF CORRUPTION, HOWEVER, GOES BEYOND THE DRUG TRADE.
MEXICO HAS A CULTURE OF CORRUPTION THAT DATES BACK TO COLONIAL
TIMES AND HAS PROVEN RESILIENT AGAINST OFFICIAL EFFORTS TO REDUCE
ITS INFLUENCE. IN A STUDY CARRIED OUT BY THE BONN-BASED
TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL, MEXICO RANKED 56 IN A LIST OF 85
NATIONS RANKED IN DEGREE OF CORRUPTION. ON A SCALE IN WHICH TEN
REPRESENTS NO CORRUPTION AND ZERO REPRESENTS THE WORST
CORRUPTION, THE STUDY PLACED MEXICO AT THREE-POINT-THREE.
THE EFFECT OF THIS CORRUPTION IS REFLECTED IN THE LOW LEVEL OF
TRUST MEXICAN CITIZENS HAVE IN THEIR POLICE FORCES. THE
SITUATION IS MADE WORSE BY REPORTS OF POLICEMEN INVOLVED IN THE
VERY CRIMES THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO PREVENT. RECENTLY, EIGHT
MEMBERS OF THE MEXICO CITY POLICE FORCE WERE ARRESTED FOR THEIR
ALLEGED INVOLVEMENT IN A KIDNAPPING RING. THE OVERALL
EFFECTIVENESS OF THE POLICE IS ALSO A MATTER OF CONCERN. LAST
YEAR, ONE MILLION 490 CRIMES WERE REPORTED IN MEXICO BUT THESE
RESULTED IN ONLY 85 THOUSAND ARRESTS. THE FIGURES SHOW THAT, FOR
THE VAST MAJORITY OF MEXICAN CRIMINALS, CRIME DOES PAY.
(SIGNED).
NEB/GF/LTD/WFR
23-Sep-98 4:19 PM EDT (2019 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
