Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Anti-drug ops praised in some L. American countries

Law enforcement officials in several Latin American countries have been patting themselves on the back after several counternarcotics operations over the past week:

- Nearly twenty metric tons of cocaine (image) was seized in a joint maritime operation between Panamanian and U.S. authorities.

- Mexican police in Tabasco are under scrutiny for being in cahoots with drug gangs, while a raid in Mexico City yielded over $200 million in drug cash.

- Chinese satellite technology and Russian jets were purchased by the Venezuelan government to assist in their anti-drug efforts.

So are these victorious battles in the “war on drugs” the norm and moving in the right direction or exceptions that are far and few between? (My quick take- the latter, especially after examining the mixed results out of Colombia).


Links- CNN, ABC News, Reuters AlertNet, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, BBC News

Image- CNN

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