Mexican army success mixed so far in combating drugs

Thanks to: UPI.com

The Mexican army is claiming progress in battling drug cartels siting the arrest of a suspected cartel leader in Cancun and the separate detention of 25 suspected traffickers dressed as soldiers.

However other reports speak of gang members dressed as Mexican soldiers harassing and burning villages. 53 inmates even broke out of a jail with the help of a convoy of trucks. Prison guards were held for questioning afterwards because security camera footage reveled guards doing nothing to stop the prisoners from leaving.

As much as I hate to say it the worse things get down there the better it will be for getting marijuana legalised in this country. That may even be true for us as well, the worse it gets here legalization of marijuana will only look like a better option.

I'll keep my first real post in a wile short, let me close by reminding you to call your congress people and let them know that marijuana legalization is important to you. The sooner we fix the law in the US equates to less suffering for the Mexican people caught in the middle of a pointless drug war.

Undercover Mexican drug agents killed

Thanks to: BBC News

Mexican drug kingpin  Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is probably to blame for the two agent's deaths. A note reading, "Neither priests or rulers will ever get El Chapo" was found with the bodies. The Mexican government has issued a 2 million dollar reward to informants that help arrest  the 24 most wanted drug kingpins in Mexico.

"The note may represent a major change in the drugs war in Mexico which has seen 8,000 people killed in the past two years as drug gangs fight for territory amid government crackdowns."

The only change I see is the drug gangs showing the government in no uncertain terms that they are ready for a fight. Obviously not much of a change at all. The United States and Mexico's policy regarding the Mexican drug cartels' is like fighting a fire with gasoline instead of water. What makes it even more insane in this case is the fire hydrant full of water is two feet away from the gas, and it costs less too.

Mexican official says army will fight drug war until 2013

Thanks to: Reuters

"Monte Alejandro Rubido, who recently joined President Felipe Calderon's National Security Council as a technical director, said troops would stay at the core of the war on drug cartels who have slaughtered nearly 2,000 people so far this year, mainly rival smugglers and police." (italics mine)

Facing a corrupt Mexican police force that, understandably, has in many cases chosen to supplement their income providing protection for the cartels', the Mexican government has resorted to using their army to fight the cartels' and retrain and modernise the police. Now Mexican officials are on record saying the Mexican army will be involved until at least 2013. The first question that comes to mind is how does Mexico plan to pay for this war? With a global recession that is showing no signs of ending, Mexico's defence budget will almost certainly have to be cut between now and 2013.  The cartels' on the other hand have no shortage of cash flow and could in theory continue battling the Mexican army indefinitely wile simultaneously continuing their drug smuggling operation. 

As I highlighted in the above quote the cartels' violence is mainly directed at those who stand in the way of profits. Most of the violence began as infighting between cartels' competing for the best smugging routes and landing strips.  As the government of Mexico has tried to quell the fighting they have also become targets. 

"Several high-profile arrests, including that of a presidential guardsmen who allegedly received $100,000 a month to track Calderon for drug traffickers, have also revealed drug cartel infiltration inside the military." (italics mine)

I love this part for so many reasons. Mainly the fact that it is the very last sentence of the article. Anyways, Hey guess what? The army is on it's way to becoming just as corrupt as the police force! I don't think that might be a bit of a problem in waging a 4 year against the same drug gangs that are "infiltrating" the army, do you? 

Well, do you?