Drug Abuse

 

 

Pubdate: Thu, 05 Mar 2009

Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)

Copyright: 2009 The Globe and Mail Company

Contact: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/feedback/?form=lettersToTheEditorForm

Website: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Authors: Colin Freeze, and Marina Jimenez

 

MEXICO'S DRUG WAR BECOMES CANADIAN SECURITY ISSUE

 

Mexico's war on the drug cartels has become a national security issue

for Canada, say Ottawa officials, as the violent backlash from the

syndicates spills across the border into Canada and the U.S.

 

Security agencies, including the RCMP, the Canadian Security

Intelligence Service, and the Integrated Threat Assessment Centre,

are concerned an organized-crime problem could turn into a

full-fledged national security threat.

 

One official, who asked to speak anonymously, explained that "it's

all part of this river of drugs - and we're one of the subsidiary streams.

 

"It's going to impact on us," he said, adding the issue "does receive

national attention."

 

This week, the RCMP publicly described a series of B.C. gang murders

as a Canadian echo of the bloody feuds among the Mexican drug

cartels, notorious for beheading their enemies and bribing corrupt

local officials.

 

President Felipe Calderon's aggressive offensive against these

criminal syndicates has unleashed the worst violence the country has

ever seen as the cartels battle one another for turf and power. More

than 6,000 people were killed in drug-related violence last year.

 

Canada's interest in the drug war also reflects, in part,

intensifying U.S. concern, as the Drug Enforcement Administration

steps up to assist Mexican authorities, and Washington acknowledges

for the first time the U.S.'s role in the illicit transnational trade.

 

"Drug trafficking and related violence is a North American problem

and we all - Canada, the U.S., and Mexico - need to work together to

solve it," said Keith Mines, the narcotics affairs director at the

U.S. embassy in Mexico. "Mexico is the supplier and North America is

the market for most of the drugs."

 

The $400-million (U.S.) Merida anti-narcotics assistance program will

help train Mexican police and fund the installation of more

sophisticated surveillance systems at the border.

 

In Canada and the U.S., local distributors are already feeling the

impact, as a dramatically reduced supply of drugs is getting through

the Mexico-U.S. border, sending prices soaring.

 

Mexico is the major transit country for drugs reaching Canada and the

U.S. and a large source of heroin, marijuana, methamphetamines and

cocaine. But gangs in the North also play a key role in distribution and sales.

 

"These are transnational organizations that make billions of dollars

and not everyone is a Mexican," said Armand Peschard-Sverdrup, a

Mexico specialist and the president of a consulting group. "There are

biker gangs, the Russian mafia, inner-city gangs in the U.S., Asian

mafia in Vancouver and Central Americans."

 

Last year, Mexican authorities arrested 26,947 people, including

several key members of the Arellano Felix cartel, and 264 foreigners.

Officials seized 19 tonnes of cocaine, 192 kg. of heroin, 341 kg. of

methamphetamines, according to the 2009 International Narcotics

Control Strategy Report. Mexico's criminal gangs are fighting amongst

themselves for diminishing profits, and erratic subordinates are

taking over, employing gruesome methods.

 

The Mexican government has sent the army into border cities such as

Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana and seized nearly 40,000 illegal firearms,

most of which came into Mexico from the U.S.

 

The drug war is destabilizing the three partners in the North

American free-trade agreement in other ways. Mexico has been Canada's

number one source country for asylum seekers for the past three

years, with some applicants now claiming their country can no longer

keep them safe from drug traffickers. During the past two years

alone, 15,000 Mexican refugee claimants have arrived in Canada -

though the acceptance rate is only 11 per cent.

 

Canadian officials also worry that as Washington reinforces its

southern flank, it may feel obliged to increase security on the

northern frontier - if only to convince U.S. Latinos of

evenhandedness - which could have an adverse affect on trade.

 

Where the violence happens

 

Drug wars between rival gangs have killed thousands in Mexico, and

border officials say the "river of drugs" is a serious

national-security risk for the United States and Canada.

 

DRUG SEIZURES

 

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

 

Cocaine HCI* 30 12 21 27 30 21 48 19

 

Cannabis* 1,839 1,633 2,248 2,208 1,786 1,902 2,194 1,650

 

Heroin 269 282 306 302 459 351 298 192

 

Methamphetamine 400 457 751 951 979 753 932 341

 

*Metric tonnes  kilogram

 

THE GLOBE AND MAIL // SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS, U.S. STATE

DEPARTMENT, INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL AND STRATEGY REPORT 2008

 

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