De War on Drugs in Mexico #3 - Weer kopstuk opgepakt

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Op woensdag 19 oktober 2011 20:08 schreef El_Matador het volgende:

HOHO. Zonder vraag, geen aanbod. Jij bent medeverantwoordelijk, snuivertje.

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Op woensdag 19 oktober 2011 19:33 schreef El_Matador het volgende:
Alledrie de posts zeggen hetzelfde, door een raar drugsidealiserend idee ingegeven cognitieve dissonantie. Als we maar vaak genoeg blijven zeggen dat legalisering (in welk land trouwens?)

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het geweld oplost, dan is het waar. Omdat we gewoon lekker moreel vrij een lijntje coke moeten kunnen nemen.

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Het extreme geweld in Mexico heeft te maken met een complex van factoren. Drugs is maar een onderdeel.

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Gelukkig is de inzet van een Colombiaanse militair nu eindelijk bewaarheid. Dat land heeft ervaring met dit soort klootzakken. En hoe is het uiteindelijk afgelopen met de kartels? Pablo kapotgeschoten.

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Dit soort gruwelijke monsters niet willen oppakken, want dan is er doorgroei... Ja, dus, meer oppakken... *duh*

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Het enige wat helpt is een harde aanpak tegen de criminelen en die arme plattelanders een alternatief bieden. Drugs legaliseren zou helpen. Maar doe nou niet alsof die moreel mooie houding wereldvrede brengt.

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Op woensdag 19 oktober 2011 19:40 schreef El_Matador het volgende:

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Gast, ben jij echt zo simpel? We staan alles toe, dan zijn we allemaal liev.

We moeten onthoofdingen, kidnappingen, grootschalig terrorisme en mafiapraktijken gewoon een beetje door de vingers zien. Niet te zwaar aan tillen. Coke toestaan, dan komt alles goed. Welk land? Allemaal! En allemaal tegelijk.

Een pragmatisch denker, dat mag ik wel.

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Op woensdag 19 oktober 2011 20:08 schreef El_Matador het volgende:

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Smaakt ie lekker, de camembert?
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HOHO. Zonder vraag, geen aanbod. Jij bent medeverantwoordelijk, snuivertje. Net zo medeverantwoordelijk als de Nikeschoenendrager voor Chinese kinderarbeid, maar toch.

Als we allemaal es zouden stoppen met coke snuiven? Moet niet moeilijk zijn, want je bent toch niet verslaafd?

Kunnen we gewoon leuke drugs als XTC en paddo´s doen.

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"Dank je"

Sarcasme, herken het. En ik zie hoe Colombia en Mexico zich ontwikkelen. Mexico is een onnodig trieste zaak.

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Op woensdag 19 oktober 2011 20:12 schreef El_Matador het volgende:

Uiteindelijk is wereldwijde legalisering en regulering de enige manier. Maar dat slaat pragmatisch nergens op als argument tegen het uitschakelen van gruwelijke criminelen.

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Op donderdag 20 oktober 2011 00:23 schreef Viajero het volgende:

Maar zolang je drugs niet legaliseert zullen gruwelijke criminelen blijven opstaan.

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Vietnamezen mogelijk spil Europese wietteelt

AMSTERDAM De politie onderzoekt of Vietnamese bendes vanuit Nederland de wietteelt organiseren in Engeland, Scandinavië en voormalige Oostbloklanden. Drugsbestrijders in die landen zien lijnen lopen vanuit Nederland. In het buitenland maken de bendes gebruik van kwetsbare illegalen en kindslaven.

Commissaris Max Daniel van de Taskforce Aanpak Georganiseerde Hennepteelt bevestigt dat volgens de informatie in Nederland woonachtige Vietnamezen materiaal exporteren zoals lampen en filters, kennis van de hennepteelt en stekken. Vermoed wordt dat hier het ‘internationale hoofdkantoor’ zit waar de operaties worden geleid.

Voor Daniel is de Vietnamese connectie met de hennepteelt nieuw. Tot nu toe is bij de ontmanteling van wietplantages slechts een handjevol Vietnamezen opgepakt. Dat gaf niet de indruk dat Aziaten een positie in de hennepteelt proberen te verwerven. In Nederland komen Vietnamezen geregeld in beeld vanwege hypotheekfraude.

Vietnamezen hebben vooral in Engeland, Schotland en Canada, en in mindere mate in Scandinavië en de Oostbloklanden, een belangrijk aandeel in de grootschalige productie van wiet. In Canada hebben ze, met andere Aziatische bendes, de hasjmarkt volledig in handen.

Het lijkt erop dat de Vietnamezen vanuit Canada enkele jaren geleden hun territorium hebben uitgebreid naar Australië en Europa. De inkomsten zouden ze volgens Britse onderzoekers investeren in andere vormen van criminaliteit, zoals prostitutie, mensensmokkel en de handel in wapens en hard drugs.

Het is onbekend hoe de bendes precies zijn georganiseerd. Wel blijkt uit buitenlandse media dat drugsbaronnen uit Vietnam huizen huren en kopen en elke ruimte volzetten met wietplanten. Er wordt illegaal elektriciteit afgetapt voor de warmtelampen en andere professionele apparatuur.

Voor zover bekend is de hennepteelt in Nederland grotendeels in handen van Marokkanen, Turken en een beperkte groep Nederlanders. De Vietnamese gemeenschap in Nederland omvat ongeveer twaalfduizend mensen. In Engeland zou nu driekwart van de ‘hasj-fabrieken’ eigendom zijn van Vietnamezen.

Door de teelt op te zetten in landen waar de gebruikers wonen, zijn minder riskante smokkeltransporten nodig. Net als in de beeldvorming over Nederland is ook in het buitenland hennepteelt geen ernstig delict en zijn de straffen vrij mild. Als een kwekerij wordt ontmanteld, is het eenvoudig elders opnieuw te beginnen.

Vaak moeten illegale Vietnamezen de planten verzorgen. Deze zogeheten ‘tuinmannen’ zijn veelal vanwege schulden in aanraking gekomen met de bendes. Ze worden volledig afhankelijk gemaakt, omdat ook bijvoorbeeld de extreem hoge reiskosten naar Engeland moeten worden terugbetaald. Doordat de huizen maximaal benut worden voor de teelt, hebben de tuinmannen zelf amper leefruimte.

De bendes zouden ook gebruik maken van honderden kindslaven die onder de belofte van een beter leven naar Engeland worden gesmokkeld. Maar daar moeten ze in de hennepkwekerijen werken en komen ze nauwelijks buiten. Volgens de Britse krant The Independent treft de politie zulke kindslaven wekelijks aan. Vanwege de dreiging dat hun familie in Vietnam iets wordt aangedaan, durft vrijwel niemand te ontsnappen.

In Nederland krijgt de hennepteelt sinds juli vorig jaar extra aandacht. Volgens de Taskforce Aanpak Georganiseerde Hennepteelt is het een miljardenindustrie, groter dan de Nederlandse bloemenhandel, en zijn de belangen enorm. Ruim driekwart van de vastgestelde criminele samenwerkingsverbanden zit ook in de hennepteelt. In Zuid-Nederland zijn nu 25 liquidaties geregistreerd die rechtstreeks verband houden met de hennepteelt.

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Op woensdag 19 oktober 2011 20:32 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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Dat ben ik niet. Ik ben tegen het verbod. Dus de gevolgen van het verbod zijn niet voor mijn rekening.

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Op donderdag 20 oktober 2011 00:03 schreef Viajero het volgende:

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Wereldwijd. Legaliseren in Mexico (wat Vicente Fox ooit invoerde, maar hij werd direct door de echte machthebbers, de USA, op de vingers getikt dus dat ging niet door) of in Colombia zal een beetje helpen, omdat het de politie en het leger meer tijd geeft om achter de echte criminelen aan te gaan. Maar zolang het niet legaal geproduceerd kan worden voor export naar de USA en Europa blijven de criminelen het monopolie houden. En dat brengt geweld met zich mee.

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Ik heb nog nooit in mijn leven cocaine gebruikt, en ik zal nooit van mijn leven cocaine gebruiken. Niet uit morele gronden, maar omdat ik van dichtbij mensen kapot heb zien gaan aan die rotzooi en ik geen zin heb dat risico te nemen. Ik heb vrienden die af en toe een lijntje nemen (het is een extreem populaire drug hier in London, en mensen met een goede baan en vrouw en kinderen nemen hier af en toe een lijntje) maar dat is wmb hun zaak.

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Voor de duidelijkheid: het gaat me niet om mijn eigen gebruik. En als het daarom zou gaan dan zou ik de status quo prima vinden, want het is hier 's nachts makkelijker te krijgen dan brood of melk.

Het gaat mij om mijn vrienden in Mexico en Colombia, en ik zou het ook zeer waarderen als die landen wat veiliger zouden zijn zodat ikzelf daar ook meer kan doen.

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Deels mee eens. Er zijn natuurlijk andere factoren die meespelen. Armoede, een gewelddadige geschiedenis, de trots en het verdedigen van eer die in de cultuur zit en de ingebakken corruptie. Maar die factoren zijn er al twee, driehonderd jaar. Dat is geen verklaring voor waarom de laatste vijf jaar het geweld extreem is toegenomen, na decennia van relatieve veiligheid.

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De drugsoorlog is de reden. En wat zit achter de drugsoorlog? Het feit dat criminelen het monopolie hebben op een zeer populair consumptiegoed. Als je ineens koffie zou verbieden dan zouden mensen elkaar afmaken om de koffiesmokkel.

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Dat Escobar is gedood is zeker goed geweest voor Colombia, en de inzet van het Amerikaanse leger en Plan Colombia wordt door de meerderheid zeer gewaardeerd.

Maar dat heeft de situatie nog steeds niet opgelost. Colombia is nog steeds een zeer gewelddadig en gevaarlijk land. Daarnaast is het geweld van Colombia verschoven naar Mexico en Centraal America.

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Zolang ze miljarden blijven verdienen, zullen er narcos zijn. Die doorgroei blijft doorgaan totdat er geen armoede meer in Mexico en Colombia is. Laten we aub enigszins realistisch blijven denken. Zelfs in een best case scenario blijf je in de komende twee, drie generaties in beide landen sloppenwijken houden waar je altijd recruten blijft vinden.

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Natuurlijk niet. Mensen die hun hele leven drugscrimineel zijn geweest gaan niet ineens netjes in een bejaardenhuis werken. Ik vind mensen die denken dat legaliseren in een klap alle problemen gaat oplossen hopeloos naief. Maar het is een essentiele eerste stap. Als je het legaliseert dan snij je in elk geval een groot deel van de inkomsten af, en veel van de nieuwe aanwas zal stoppen. Het zal politie en leger veel meer tijd geven om te concentreren op de gewelddadige criminelen.

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Ik ben vaak in Colombia en Mexico geweest, spreek vloeiend Spaans, heb veel vrienden in beide landen en mijn vriendin waarmee ik samenwoon in London is Colombiaanse. Ik hou oprecht van zowel Colombia als Mexico, en dat is de reden dat ik geloof dat het legaliseren van drugs in de hele wereld een noodzaak is als beide landen echt hun volle potentie willen bereiken. Nog los van de schade die de War on Drugs aanricht in de USA, Brazilie en de UK, landen waar ik ook oprecht van hou, en in de rest van de wereld.

En ik weet dat veel mensen zeggen dat dat een onrealistische verwachting is, en dat het nooit zal gebeuren. Maar dat zeiden ze ook over het afschaffen van de slavernij, en van het invoeren van vrouwenkiesrecht.

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Op maandag 24 oktober 2011 19:18 schreef El_Matador het volgende:

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Wat een gelul. Er IS geen opheffing van het verbod. Dus je moet van de huidige situatie uitgaan. Cognitief dissonant wensdenken is nooit een argument.

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Misdaad loont!

Misdaad heeft in 2009 wereldwijd maar liefst 2,1 biljoen dollar opgebracht, omgerekend ongeveer 1500 miljard euro. Dat is bijna 4 procent van de wereldeconomie.

Vooral de handel in drugs levert veel op, blijkt uit een gisteren gepresenteerd onderzoek van de VN-organisatie tegen misdaad, Unodc.

Criminelen proberen het grootste gedeelte van de misdaadopbrengsten wit te wassen. Autoriteiten slagen er nauwelijks in dat tegen te gaan. In 2009 werd minder dan 1 procent van het witgewassen geld in beslag genomen, aldus het VN-rapport.

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Op woensdag 26 oktober 2011 09:31 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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Op woensdag 26 oktober 2011 09:35 schreef Basp1 het volgende:

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De teletekst titel van dat stukje is veel leuker:

Misdaad loont.

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Miljoenen aan drugsgeld op Bredase zolderkamer

De Nationale Recherche heeft bij huiszoekingen in onder meer Breda en Rucphen 130 kilo cocaïne, ruim 6,5 miljoen euro aan contant geld, dure auto's en acht vuurwapens, waaronder een kalasjnikov in beslag genomen.

De cocaïne - met een straatwaarde van 10 miljoen euro - lag verborgen in een loods achter een woning in Rucphen, meldt BN/De Stem.

Gisteren zijn in Rucphen een 28-jarige man en een 27-jarige vrouw aangehouden. Op de zolderverdieping van een woning in Breda trof de recherche 'het overgrote deel' van de miljoenen euro's aan, verstopt in een doos.

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Veel meer doden door criminaliteit dan door oorlog

Een internationale studie wijst uit dat er meer mensen omkomen door criminaliteit dan in oorlogen. Latijns-Amerika en een strook van landen in het midden van Afrika worden hierbij het hardst getroffen.

De auteurs van de Global Burden of Armed Violence berekenden dat er per jaar 526.000 mensen omkomen door geweld; ruim 1.400 per dag. Het rapport, dat vandaag in Genève uitkwam, claimt dat er jaarlijks 55.000 mensen omkomen in oorlogen. Dat is veel minder dan de geschatte 396.000 mensen die vermoord worden buiten een gewapend conflict. Nog eens 54.000 mensen sterven als gevolg van onbedoeld geweld of doodslag. Bij politie-acties sterven jaarlijks 21.000 per jaar.

'De meeste staten die het zwaarst getroffen worden door gewapend geweld hebben niet te maken met oorlog,' zei Said Krause, een auteur van het rapport.

Volgens de studie zijn er veertien landen in de wereld met een gemiddelde van meer dan dertig doden door geweld per 100.000 inwoners. Wereldwijd ligt dat aantal op 7.9 per 100.000 mensen. De lijst van de veertien landen wordt aangevoerd door El Salvador, Irak en Jamaica. Die landen samen zijn qua inwoneraantal goed voor 5 procent van de wereldbevolking, maar toch vindt er een kwart van al het geweld wereldwijd plaats. Slechts zes van de veertien landen met zeer veel geweld hebben ook te maken met oorlogsgebieden in de onderzochte periode van 2006 tot 2009. Het gaat om Irak, Colombia, Sri Lanka, de Centraal-Afrikaanse Republiek, Sudan en Congo.

Mexico
Per regio zijn er ook grote verschillen in de hoeveelheid geweld. In de staat Mexico Chihuahua sterven per 100.000 inwoners 129 mensen als gevolg van geweld.

De meeste doden door geweld zijn man, maar ook tenminste 66.000 vrouwen komen jaarlijks op gewelddadige wijze om. Hoe meer geweld er in een land is, hoe meer vrouwen er verhoudingsgewijs onder de slachtoffers zijn, aldus de studie.

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Mexican army raids bulletproofing auto shop

ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON= MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican army have found an auto shop used to bulletproof vehicles for drug gangs.

Ten people were arrested and soldiers confiscated 10 cars or SUVs that were being bulletproofed, as well as six other vehicles in a warehouse in the northern state of Sinaloa, said the army in a late-Monday statement.

Authorities did not say which cartel managed the shop, but it was in the home state of Mexico's most-wanted drug lord Joaquin Guzman, who is known as "El Chapo."

In border states such as Tamaulipas, soldiers have raided similar bulletproofing auto shops and found freight trucks completely covered in steel.

The army's operation in Sinaloa took place Sunday.

In Acapulco, federal police caught a young woman and a young man as they were getting off a car near a shopping mall with an ice chest, and inside a decapitated head and other human remains, authorities said Tuesday. Police followed them because the car matched the description in a kidnapping report.

Inside their vehicle, police found another head inside another ice chest and poster boards. When drug gangs commit crimes, they often leave messages against rival groups.

Federal police said 19-year-old Damaris Gomez, or "Guera" a nickname for blonde, is the leader of a hitmen cell working for "the street sweeper" gang. The 21-year-old man riding with her is an alleged hitmen, police said.

The local gang is fighting against the Independent Cartel of Acapulco for control of the coastal city following the 2010 arrest of a suspected drug capo for the Beltran Leyva cartel, Edgar Valdez Villarreal, also known as "La Barbie."

In the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, police found the dismembered bodies of four men in bits scattered around the city.

Prosecutors spokesman Arturo Sandoval said police first found two heads and parts of two bodies at street corner in the southern part of the city, along with a handwritten message saying "To the New Juarez cartel, keep recruiting, we're waiting for you."

The New Juarez Cartel is a group that recently appeared, and which accuses authorities of favoring the Sinaloa cartel, which is fighting a bloody turf battle against local gangs for control of Ciudad Juarez.

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The other victims' remains were found scattered elsewhere in the city later in the day.

Amid continuing reports about the operation of U.S. intelligence officers in Mexico, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City issued a statement Tuesday saying that "in accordance with Mexican law, the U.S. government does not carry out law enforcement operations in Mexico. That is a job for Mexican authorities."

The U.S. statement noted that "we closely cooperate with Mexican authorities in that effort, in full respect for Mexico's sovereignty and Mexican law, for the mutual benefit of our two counties and our shared goals. The U.S. government does this by providing equipment and training, and by sharing information."

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Online hackers threaten to expose cartel's secrets

Group called Anonymous demands release of one of their own who was kidnapped

An international group of online hackers is warning a Mexican drug cartel to release one of its members, kidnapped from a street protest, or it will publish the identities and addresses of the syndicate's associates, from corrupt police to taxi drivers, as well as reveal the syndicates' businesses.

The vow is a bizarre cyber twist to Mexico's ongoing drug war, as a group that has no guns is squaring off against the Zetas, a cartel blamed for thousands of deaths as well as introducing beheadings and other frightening brutality.

"You made a huge mistake by taking one of us. Release him," says a masked man in a video posted online on behalf of the group, Anonymous.

"We cannot defend ourselves with a weapon … but we can do this with their cars, homes, bars, brothels and everything else in their possession," says the man, who is wearing a suit and tie.

"It won't be difficult; we all know who they are and where they are located," says the man, who underlines the group's international ties by speaking Spanish with the accent of a Spaniard while using Mexican slang.

He also implies that the group will expose mainstream journalists who are somehow in cahoots with the Zetas by writing negative articles about the military, the country's biggest fist in the drug war.

"We demand his release," says the Anonymous spokesman, who is wearing a mask like the one worn by the shadowy revolutionary character in the movie V for Vendetta, which came out in 2006. "If anything happens to him, you sons of (expletive) will always remember this upcoming November 5."

The person reportedly kidnapped is not named, and the video does not share information about the kidnapping other than that it occurred in the Mexican state of Veracruz during a street protest.

Anonymous draws its roots from an online forum dedicated to bringing sensitive government documents and other material to light.

If Anonymous can make good on its threats to publish names, it will "most certainly" lead to more deaths and could leave bloggers and others open to reprisal attacks by the cartel, contends Stratfor, an Austin-based global intelligence company.

"In this viral world on the Internet, it shows how much damage could be done with just one statement on the Web," said Fred Burton of Stratfor, which published a report Friday that probes the implications of the cartel drawing the activists' ire.

Mike Vigil, the retired head of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said the Zetas must take Anonymous seriously.

"It is a gutsy move," Vigil said. "By publishing the names, they identify them to rivals, and trust me, they will go after them."

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US authorities say they have broken up a massive drug-smuggling network run by a Mexican cartel in Arizona.

A total of 76 suspects have been arrested and huge quantities of drugs and arms seized in a series of raids.

The ring used backpackers and vehicles to smuggle marijuana, cocaine and heroin across Arizona's western desert.

The network was linked to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel and generated an estimated $2 billion in profit over the last five years, officials said.

"Today we have dealt a significant blow to a Mexican criminal enterprise that has been responsible for poisoning our communities," said Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne.

"I find it completely unacceptable that Arizona neighbourhoods are treated as a trading floor for narcotics", he added.

The bust - known as "Operation Pipeline Express" - followed a 17-month investigation by multiple US law enforcement agencies.
'Monopoly'

A mix of US and Mexican nationals were arrested in three sweeps last week, earlier this month and in September, officials announced.

More than 30 tons of marijuana, 90kg (200lbs) of cocaine and 72kg (160lbs) of heroin were seized, as well as more than 100 firearms.

Operating from the Arizona towns of Chandler, Stanfield and Maricopa, the network ferried drugs across the Mexican border on foot and by vehicle to safe houses in the Phoenix area, officials said.

The drugs were then sold to criminal gangs who distributed them in other states across the US.

Officials believe the network made huge profits by securing a monopoly on smuggling routes along an 80 mile (128km) stretch of the remote desert border from Yuma to to the community of Sells in the Tohono O'odham Indian reservation.

Intelligence suggested the ring was linked to the Sinaloa cartel, led by Mexico's most-wanted fugitive drugs lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

"We in Arizona continue to stand and fight the Mexican drug cartels, who think they own the place," Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said.

"This is America and we shall bring a crushing hand of enforcement against those who threaten our families and our national security".

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Jongen (14) met wiet op Bali krijgt mogelijk twaalf jaar cel

Op Bali is vandaag de rechtszaak begonnen tegen een 14-jarige jongen uit Australië. Hij wordt beschuldigd van het bezitten van marihuana toen hij op vakantie was met zijn ouders op het Indonesische eiland.

De jongen, die vandaag een masker droeg om zijn identiteit te verbergen, arriveerde bij de rechtbank met zijn moeder voor een gesloten zitting. Aanklager I Gusti Putu Gede Atmaja meldde dat de jongen, afkomstig uit Morisset Park, een celstraf van twaalf jaar boven het hoofd hangt als hij schuldig wordt bevonden aan het kopen van 3,6 gram marihuana op 4 oktober. De jongen was toen op vakantie met zijn ouders en een vriendje van 13. Twee buurtwachters zouden de jongen de drugs uit zijn zak hebben zien halen nadat hij gearresteerd was.

De advocaat van de jongen, Muhammad Rifan, gaat ervan uit dat hij aan een gevangenisstraf kan ontkomen, omdat hij minderjarig is en de drugs voor eigen gebruik bij zich had, niet om te verhandelen. In het beste geval mag de jongen met zijn ouders mee terug naar Australië en blijft hij onder voogdij van zijn ouders.

De zaak, op grote voet gevolgd in Australië, gaat vrijdag verder. Verschillende Australiërs zijn eerder al veroordeeld tot gevangenisstraffen en zelfs doodstraf voor het bezitten van drugs in Indonesië, maar nu gaat het waarschijnlijk om het jongste geval. Indonesië heeft een extreem streng drugsbeleid en bezitters en smokkelaars van drugs worden vaak geëxecuteerd. Meer dan 140 mensen zitten er momenteel voor in de dodencel; onder wie meer dan 50 buitenlanders.

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Meer doden door pijnstillers dan drugs in VS

Het aantal Amerikanen dat een dodelijke overdosis pijnstillers inneemt is de afgelopen jaren meer dan verdriedubbeld. Inmiddels eisen overdoses pijnstillers meer levens dan cocaïne en heroïne samen. Dat meldden de Amerikaanse Centra voor Ziektebestrijding en Preventie (CDC).

Volgens gegevens van de centra kwamen in 2008 bijna 15.000 mensen om door een overdosis pijnstillers. In 1999 waren dat er 4000.

'Het schokkende nieuws is dat we in dit land midden in een epidemie zitten van overdoses van geneesmiddelen op recept,' aldus CDC-chef Thomas Frieden.

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Beyond the Border: Measuring Mexican Cartels' Influence in the US


While little is known about the activity of Mexican drug cartels in the U.S., a Department of Justice report released last month suggests that they are dominated by one group: “El Chapo’s” Sinaloa Cartel.

Although an emphasis on supply reduction has been a cornerstone of U.S. drug policy ever since the inception of the “war on drugs,” numerous studies over the past three decades have indicated that interdiction efforts have failed to significantly decrease the flow of narcotics into the country.

Now, a report released in August by the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) has joined their ranks, claiming that overall drug availability is increasing. According to the 2011 National Drug Threat Assessment, “heroin, marijuana, MDMA [otherwise known as ecstasy] and methamphetamine are readily available throughout the United States, and their availability is increasing in some markets.” The only exception to the trend is cocaine, which remains less available than it was prior to 2007, a year which drug officials claim to have caused a supply reduction. As InSight Crime has reported, however, the evidence for this drop is not decisive.

Not surprisingly, the report shows that the southern border continues to act as a gateway for the vast majority of these drugs. As it turns out, however, the quantity and type of drug smuggled across the border varies by location. Whereas remote areas along the southern Arizona border are the site of large-scale shipments of marijuana, the NDIC claims this does not apply to all drugs.

Instead, smugglers of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine prefer to bring in their product in multiple, smaller shipments through border checkpoints in Texas and California. This means that a certain percentage will always be caught, but drug trafficking organizations rely on secret compartments, the law of averages and pay-offs to ensure that enough of the drugs get through to meet the level of wholesale demand in the U.S.

Some of the most interesting findings of the report, however, have to do with the division of these distribution networks. According to the NDIC, Mexican groups solidified their hegemony over the drug market over the past year, continuing to edge out their competitors from places like Colombia and the Dominican Republic.

But not all Mexican groups have equal control over the market. Indeed, their influence on U.S. drug supply has much to do with to their relative power in Mexico. Just as the Sinaloa Cartel is the most powerful drug trafficking organization in that country, the group -- led by Joaquin Guzman, alias "El Chapo" -- has the most distribution connections in the U.S.

The report’s authors found that of the seven major main drug trafficking organizations operating in the U.S., (the Sinaloa Cartel, the Zetas, the Gulf Cartel, the Juarez Cartel, the Beltran Leyva Organization, the La Familia Michoacana and the·Tijuana Cartel), the Sinaloa Cartel is the only one which traffics drugs to every single region of the country. As the diagram produced by Mexican daily El Universal below illustrates, the Zetas -- who are perceived as the Sinaloans’ nearest competitors in Mexico -- have distribution networks in only the Southwest, Southeast and the Great Lakes regions. ·They also lag behind the Sinaloa Cartel in the drugs they traffic. While the Zetas are limited to distributing mostly cocaine and marijuana, the Sinaloans move all the major types of major drug northward.

Still, it should be noted that the report does not represent a complete assessment of Mexican cartels’ relative power. For instance, the NDIC also claims that both the Juarez and Gulf Cartels, which are each considered to be past their prime, surpass the Zetas in their geographic spread. This is likely a product of the Zetas’ modus operandi. The group generally does not possess a firm organizational structure, and owes its influence more to muscling its way into the networks of other groups than to its own connections.

Ultimately, the NDIC report should be taken as a reminder that Mexico’s “drug war” is not as insulated from the U.S. as many suppose. If Mexican cartels have criminal connections in the country, then it is not hard to imagine that these organizations could extend their activities beyond the mere wholesale distribution of illicit drugs. InSight Crime has previously documented a deepening of connections with local street gangs, a development that that has local law enforcement worried

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Op vrijdag 4 november 2011 00:35 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

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Op woensdag 2 november 2011 06:10 schreef PKRChamp het volgende:

P.1 "Operation Agent Scrub" CIA's $trillion ineptitude exposed-only on youtube

pt. 2 "Operaton Agent Scrub' CIA's$trillion criminal ineptitude exposed -only found on You Tube

Pt 3. "Operation Agent Scrub"-CIA Criminal Inept Agency - secret finding. Only on Youtube

Lees ook zijn boeken en je komt erachter dat "The War on Drugs" gewoon gewonnen kunnen worden maar er is een dubbele agenda wat gerund word door de geheime dienst. Erg tegenstrijdig als je kijkt wat men naar de media uitbrengt.
Het gaat erom dat het relatief makkelijk is om de illegale drugs een halt toe te brengen en het is puur aan de Amerikaanse regering te danken dat er nog steeds miljoenen valt te verdienen aan drugs.
Lees de boeken van Micheal Levine een ex undercover agent die op een gegeven moment de grootste drugsdealer die verantwoordelijk was voor 90 procent van de cocaïne die Bolivia werd uitgesmokkeld.
Lees over de problemen die Levine ondervonden heeft door zijn ontdekkingen waardoor hij zelf door zijn eigen mensen "DEA" werd gewantrouwd en verguisd.

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California's medical marijuana outlets threatened in government crackdown

Obama administration accused of betraying election promises as it gives scores of outlets until Saturday to shut up shop



The Obama administration is heading towards an ugly confrontation with California's medical marijuana dispensaries after the federal government ordered dozens of outlets to close by Saturday or face an immediate crackdown.

Growers and sellers of marijuana for medicinal use say the threats amount to a betrayal of campaign promises made by Obama in 2008, and that they fear a nationwide attempt to destroy the burgeoning industry. Partly encouraged by Obama's campaign messages that he would not use federal force against practitioners complying with state laws, dispensaries have spread over the past two years across 16 states, including Arizona, New Jersey, Delaware and Maine as well as Washington DC, with a combined annual turnover of up to $100bn.

California, which permitted medical marijuana in a referendum in 1996, is by far the leader in the field, with some reports suggesting it has more dispensaries than Starbucks coffee houses. Nobody knows precise figures, given the still murky nature of the business, but there are thought to be more than a million Californians who are registered with doctors for growing and consuming cannabis, and hundreds of thousands more across the country.

The Obama administration has steadily toughened its approach over the past two years, arguing that medical marijuana has become a front for illegal distribution of the drug. This summer it sent out letters to several towns in states across America, including California, which have passed their own independent regulations permitting the medical use of the drug. Prosecutors pointed out that cannabis remained illegal under federal law and warned the municipalities, from Montana to Rhode Island, not to allow cultivation on their land.

Then, on 7 October, federal prosecutors held a press conference in which they announced they were extending their threatened action to landlords who provided rental space to dispensaries, giving them 45 days to send their tenants packing or face the consequences. For many of those outlets, the deadline runs out on Saturday.

"This is a clear case of the federal government overreaching itself," said Morgan Fox of the Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project. "It goes against what Obama said many times in his presidential campaign, so either he has lost control of the Department of Justice or he is betraying his election promises."

It is not known how far the federal authorities intend to go in enforcing their threats; the sight of Swat teams going in to smash dispensaries used at least in part by seriously ill patients may not produce the most sympathetic headlines in the more liberal towns and cities of California. But already the chill has spread, and several outlets are understood to have shut their doors or been evicted by landlords.

Kris Hermes of Americans for Safe Access, ASA, the largest pro-medical marijuana group in the country, said the Obama administration was being substantially more aggressive on this issue than its Bush predecessor. "We are seeing a new vitality in the attacks against medical marijuana and that's extremely troubling. Political will in this country is changing, and its about time the administration caught up with it."

A recent Gallup poll found that for the first time since records began, more than a half of Americans were in favour of legalising all marijuana use.

ASA has filed a lawsuit that accuses the department of justice of violating the 10th amendment of the constitution, which devolves any power not specifically delegated to the federal government to the states.

Further lawsuits have been launched across California pressing for a temporary restraining order on the federal authorities to prevent raids happening after the 45-day time limit is reached.

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America's self-defeating 'war on drugs'

Distressingly, the Obama White House seems determined to paint itself into a corner of prohibitionist law enforcement

The murky doings of the hacker group Anonymous took a remarkable turn in recent days. A Mexican drug cartel allegedly kidnapped an Anonymous member, and then, after the loosely organised hackers said they would reveal names of cartel personnel, released him with threats to kill the hacker's family if the names were revealed.

The affair, which played out in blogs and on Twitter, coincided with a week I spent in central Mexico, where I led several workshops for new-media creators. In conversations with a number of people during my visit, I got a clearer understanding of the fear that pervades Mexican society – an undercurrent that also combined despair and anger at the way the cartels have corrupted the country's institutions.

More than almost any other place, Mexico holds dangers for anyone who dares to oppose the cartels, or even tell the truth about what they are doing. Journalists who do so are targets. So are bloggers. The deaths mount, and even honorable truth-tellers are understandably intimidated.

Several people I met in Mexico said they wished for better information about what is actually happening; trust for the press, with its understandable reluctance to cover the story, is low. How, they asked, could Mexicans create a safe online service that would provide the information the media are too afraid to publish themselves, as well as a place for the people to talk among themselves about what they could do to curb the violence? It would be immensely difficult, I said, but well worth the effort.

Back home in California last weekend, I read some depressing – and absolutely related – news. The Obama administration has gone on the attack against legal marijuana sales, breaking yet another promise (are there any unbroken ones left?) – in this case, a commitment to let states set their own policies in this arena. California law grants broad permission for medical use; getting a prescription is trivially simple, by design, and stores selling the plant have sprouted around the state. But the Obama people have declared their intent to invoke federal law against anyone who profits from state-legal marijuana – including even newspapers that carry advertisements for the stores.

What's sad, but predictable in the current political environment, is the way the Obama White House has felt obliged to ignore its previously semi-enlightened position on drugs, of seeing abuse much more as a medical than law-enforcement issue. Now, Obama is just another in the long line of presidents prosecuting the cynical and counterproductive "war on drugs".

Who profits from this insane war? The Mexican cartels, among many others.

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of meeting Mexico's former president, Vicente Fox, at a conference in Canada. In a talk there, he repeated what he's said many times before: Mexico's disaster has American roots. Demand in the United States is fuelling the cartels' market, and prohibition has not – nor has ever – worked. It's time, he said, to legalise or at least decriminalise drugs. He pointed to the example of Portugal, which legalised drugs a decade ago and is, by all evidence, better-off for having done so.

The anti-drug warriors are aghast at such heresy. But however well-meaning some may be, their thinking is at best muddled and often hypocritical. In particular, they refuse to ask the question that matters most: would society be better- or worse-off with legalised drugs, compared with conditions today?

Yes, we would probably have some new addicts, although Portugal's usage rate is among Europe's lowest; and we would bear the costs of their addiction. But compare that to what we pay, in money and lives, as a result of drugs being illegal: thoroughly corrupt legal systems; massive violence as sellers compete with honest police and each other; the wholesale dismemberment of civil liberties; vast and expanding prison systems; and so much more.

Our addiction to criminalisation is also crazy in a fiscal sense. The government revenue potential from taxing legal drugs is staggering, and given governments' current poverty, it is astonishing that they ignore it.

Any remotely honest assessment would conclude that any new problems caused by legal drugs are dwarfed by the known catastrophe of prohibition. Even if the costs were closer to parity (again, never mind the revenue possibilities), what about the damage to our fundamental liberties caused by the prohibition regime? We learned these lessons decades ago from the catastrophic ban on alcohol – a drug that takes an enormous but manageable toll on society – but refuse to learn them now.

And where are US journalists? With few exceptions, they don't even ask these questions, much less seriously investigate the toll taken by prohibition. To their shame, they parrot government hyperbole and lies.

The Mexican cartels would not disappear quietly if America did the sane thing and legalised drugs. But a major source of their income and power would fade over time, as President Fox says.

If I can, I will help the people I met in Mexico create a safe online venue for the reality of what is happening there. But I would rather see my own country end its corrupt and self-destructive policy of prohibition.

Mexican journalists avoid the truth because their lives are at risk. America's journalists have no such excuse.

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Human rights watch

Killing, Torture, Disappearences in Mexico's War on Drugs.

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Op vrijdag 11 november 2011 00:27 schreef El_Matador het volgende:
Kopstuk van Mexicaans kartel opgepakt
Laatste update: 11 november 2011 00:06
MEXICO-STAD - Mexico heeft een kopstuk van een van de belangrijkste criminele organisaties in het land opgepakt.

Ovidio Limón Sánchez van het Sinaloa-kartel werd woensdag gearresteerd in de noordwestelijke stad Culiacán.

Dat heeft het Mexicaanse ministerie van Defensie donderdag bekendgemaakt.De Verenigde Staten willen Sánchez vervolgen wegens drugshandel.

Vijf miljoen
De Amerikaanse autoriteiten hadden 5 miljoen dollar uitgeloofd voor de gouden tip die tot zijn arrestatie zou leiden.

Het Sinaloa-kartel vecht tegen andere bendes om controle over de beste smokkelroutes richting de VS. Mexico opende in 2006 de strijd tegen het geweld, maar dat is sindsdien juist toegenomen. In de drugsoorlog zijn de laatste 5 jaar ruim 41.000 doden gevallen.

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Op vrijdag 11 november 2011 00:39 schreef Viajero het volgende:

[..]

Orale. De eindoverwinning moet nu echt dichtbij zijn.

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Mexicaanse minister komt om bij helikoptercrash

Een helikopter met aan boord de Mexicaanse minister van Binnenlandse Zaken Francisco Blake Mora is vandaag neergestort. Volgens persbureau Reuters is de minister omgekomen.

Het ongeluk gebeurde bij de stad Cuernavaca, iets ten zuiden van de hoofdstad Mexico-stad. Blake had er een overleg met vertegenwoordigers van justitie.

Volgens CNN zijn waarnemend minister Felipe Zamaro en persofficier Jose Alfredo Garcia ook omgekomen. In het toestel zaten zeven passagiers en twee bemanningsleden, allen kwamen om. De oorzaak van de crash is nog onduidelijk.

Mexico voert al jaren een bloedige oorlog tegen criminele organisaties. Het geweld heeft in de afgelopen 5 jaar tijd meer dan 41.000 levens geëist.

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Brazilian 'drug lord' sees reign as 'king of the hill' end in car boot

Rio's most wanted man, who allegedly presided over £35m cocaine racket, caught in boot of Toyota Corolla while fleeing

Like many residents of Rio's largest favela, he was the son of economic migrants from Brazil's impoverished north-east who came to the city in search of a better life.

He rose to become the "dono do morro" or "king of the hill"; and if police are to be believed, a powerful and feared drug lord with a penchant for Armani suits, heavy artillery and ultra-violence.

But this week the four-year reign of Antônio Francisco Bonfim Lopes — Rio's most wanted man and the "boss" of the city's Rocinha shantytown — came to a bizarre end after the 35-year-old was arrested while attempting to flee the slum in the boot of a Toyota Corolla.

Inside the car was Lopes's four-strong entourage who told police they were diplomats from the Democratic Republic of Congo and attempted, unsuccessfully, to invoke diplomatic immunity before offering a hefty bribe.

"Why is the car boot shaking?" a suspicious arresting officer reportedly inquired, before Lopes was found curled up inside.

Better known by his nom de guerre 'Nem', Lopes was born to migrants from the north-eastern state of Paraiba. According to reports in the crime tabloid O Povo, he once worked as a cleaner in an Ipanema beauty parlour, eventually being promoted to office boy.

That changed in 2004. Fed up with the daily grind, Lopes allegedly accepted an invitation to become a security guard for Rocinha's then boss, Erismar Rodrigues Moreira. Moreira, or Bem-Ti-Vi, was known for the gold-plated arsenal of machine guns and rifles he used to control Rocinha, a sprawling hillside slum in southern Rio, flanked by some of the most exclusive neighbourhoods in town.

When Moreira died in a hail of police bullets in 2005 Lopes allegedly saw his opportunity to move up the food chain. He hatched a plan to eliminate Moreira's immediate successor, a gangster known as Soul, and in 2007 took full control of the slum.

As the alleged boss of Rocinha, Lopes presided over one of the most lucrative cocaine rackets in town. According to police the region was controlled by an army of around 200 rifle-toting soldiers who were responsible for selling some 200kg of Bolivian cocaine a month, bringing in an annual fortune of around R$100m (£35m).

Lopes's transformation from cleaner to drug lord brought him riches unimaginable to most of Rocinha's residents, many of them porters, cleaners or construction workers who scrape a living working for the city's middle and upper classes.

He ran his business from a luxurious three-storey mansion in Laboriaux, a neighbourhood at the crest of Rocinha, and earned a reputation for his ecstasy-fuelled raves at which a number of Brazilian celebrities put in appearances.

In 2010 a group of local reporters gained access to Lopes's home during a police raid. Inside they found garish sofas, miniature palm trees, state-of-the-art televisions, Armani suits, and a swimming pool with a view over Rio's dramatic beachside scenery. The bar was stocked with 4.5lt bottles of Johnnie Walker Black Label whiskey and champagne.

But Lopes's growing media profile came at a price. His capture became a question of honour for authorities and a R$5,000 bounty was put on his head. Virtually confined to his hilltop fiefdom, Lopes knew it was only a matter of time before he was arrested or killed. Keen to stay under the radar, Lopes took action. He began working out and using steroids to alter his appearance; he reputedly underwent plastic surgery and dyed his hair. Enemies or informants, police claim, were eliminated, their bullet-riddled corpses burned in improvised crematoriums hidden in the rainforest around the slum.

In 2010 Lopes even attempted to fake his own death, paying a local doctor R$150 to sign a bogus death certificate claiming the trafficker had died of kidney failure.

On Wednesday night Lopes's final bid to elude authorities failed in spectacular fashion. With police preparing a massive operation to permanently occupy Rocinha, he was hauled out of the boot of a Toyota while trying to flee.

Gabriela Moreira, a reporter from Rio's O Dia newspaper, was one of the few journalists to gain access to Lopes, squashed up against him in a lift as he was dragged into the federal police HQ for questioning.

"It didn't scare me at all," Moreira recalled of her brief encounter with the elusive Nem. "All I could think was: here is the biggest criminal in Rio who is capable of killing and whatever else and he just doesn't seem like it. Where is that myth that has been constructed? I just thought, man, he seems like a normal guy."

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Drug kingpin wanted Mexico City attack to retaliate against U.S. crackdown, feds say

At his mountaintop lair in Mexico, Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman, the head of the world’s biggest narcotics cartel, told a Chicago drug trafficker he wanted dozens of military-grade assault weapons to stage an attack in Mexico City in retaliation against U.S. authorities who were messing with their drug business, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

“This government is letting [American law enforcement] do whatever they want,” said one of Guzman’s lieutenants, Ismael Zambada-Garcia, according to a cooperator in the case, Margarito Flores. “It will be good to send [them] a message.”

“They are fucking us everywhere,” Guzman allegedly said of the government during a meeting on the mountaintop compound. “Let it be a government building, it doesn’t matter whose. An embassy or a consulate, a media outlet or television station [attack a Mexican or U.S. government or media building in Mexico City].”

Guzman remains at large, but is a critical piece of the massive case that’s headed to trial early next year in Chicago — one of the highest-profile drug prosecutions in the nation.

Guzman’s remarks were quoted in the so-called “Santiago Proffer” filed by federal prosecutors Thursday in the wide-reaching case targeting the Sinaloa Cartel. The 63-page filing gives the most detail yet about the case that charges a conspiracy involving the shipment of massive amounts of cocaine and heroin from Mexico into the United States. The newly filed papers show that twin brothers from Chicago — Margarito and Pedro Flores — will be among 10 cooperating witnesses who will testify at trial and that the government has a recorded conversation of Vicente Zambada-Niebla, allegedly asking for follow-up on plans for an explosive retaliation.

Even though Zambada-Niebla’s defense has warned it may not be prepared to begin trial in February, U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo has asked parties to aim for that date.

The top DEA official in Chicago has referred to Guzman “as the most dangerous criminal in the world and probably the most wealthy criminal in the world.” Authorities say his cartel has flooded Chicago with marijuana and other drugs — leading the Sun-Times last week to refer to him as “Chicago’s New Scarface.” Guzman remains on the Forbes list as one of the top billionaires in the world. The Sinaloa Cartel is among the warring Mexican drug organizations engaged in gruesome, bloody slayings that together are suspected of tens of thousands of murders in the country.

In Chicago’s drug conspiracy case, allegations here have centered on man who is in custody at Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center — Zambada-Niebla — whom the government describes as a high-ranking leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.

According to the proffer, Zambada-Niebla ordered Margarito Flores to make it a priority to secure weapons and retaliate against the government.

“Twin, you know guys coming back from the war. Find somebody who can give you big powerful weapons, American shit. . . . We don’t need that small shit, I want to blow up some buildings. We got a lot of grenades, we got a lot of .50 calibers, we’re tired of AKs,” Zambada-Niebla allegedly said. “You’re good with me. You want to be really good with me, get me my shit, my guns. Fuck the money, fuck the drugs, I want to blow shit up. I want some bazookas, some grenade launchers.”

At the time, Flores had already been cooperating. He reported the conversation to a DEA agent. Authorities then recorded a call between Margarito Flores and Zambada-Niebla on Nov. 29, 2008, where they discuss the plot further, according to court papers. The government, however, then does not allege any further action with regard to a plot to blow up a building.

Zambada-Niebla’s attorney said Thursday any comment on the new filings would come in a defense court filing. Zambada-Niebla has leveled a series of charges against the United States, including that he had been cooperating with U.S. agents when they turned around and charged him.

The Flores brothers, who are in custody, had done business with two warring drug cartels, authorities have said. Each cartel threatened the Flores brothers with violence if they did business with the other, according to the charges. The brothers approached authorities in 2008 and offered their cooperation.

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Op zaterdag 12 november 2011 19:03 schreef Elvislives het volgende:
Bedoel je het Sinaloa cartel? Of heb ik iets gemist met Santiago...

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Op zaterdag 12 november 2011 19:07 schreef Mr.Silencer het volgende:

[..]

Idd, Sinaloa cartel. Ik haalde per ongeluk wat dingen door elkaar.

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Op zaterdag 12 november 2011 20:00 schreef Elvislives het volgende:

[..]

No problem! In Mexico is het een publiek geheim dat El Chapo en Calderon maatjes zijn en dat hij daardoor al die tijd buiten schot is gebleven. Ik maak me erg zorgen wat er gebeurt als Mexico City aangevallen gaat worden, tot nu toe is het er erg rustig geweest kwa narcogeweld.

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Op zaterdag 12 november 2011 22:38 schreef JoaquinGuzman het volgende:

[..]

¿Cómo te atreves a decir eso! Tú eres el siguiente, gringo.

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Op zaterdag 12 november 2011 23:23 schreef Elvislives het volgende:

[..]

Flikker ff op met je domme doodsverwensing man

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Op zaterdag 12 november 2011 23:23 schreef Elvislives het volgende:

[..]

Flikker ff op met je domme doodsverwensing man

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Op zondag 13 november 2011 00:42 schreef El_Matador het volgende:

[..]

Anders hap je ff serieus.

En anders geef je ff bronnen voor je boude bewering dat de president "dikke maatjes" is met een der grootste drugsbaronnen.

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Op zondag 13 november 2011 00:42 schreef El_Matador het volgende:

[..]

Anders hap je ff serieus.

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Op zondag 13 november 2011 01:37 schreef Elvislives het volgende:

[..]

Ja :-P maar aan zijn Spaans te zien weet ie zelf ook niet wat ie zegt.

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Op zondag 13 november 2011 01:03 schreef Viajero het volgende:

[..]

Ik weet niet of het waar is. De president zelf steekt veel energie in het ontkennen hiervan:

http://www.presidencia.go(...)iminal-del-pacifico/

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“Anonymous” and a Poet Strike Back in Mexico

The president of Mexico’s Felipe Calderon’s sister Luisa Maria Calderon is seeking the gubernatorial seat in the state of Michoacan, Mexico. “Anonymous” has claimed responsibility for hacking her campaign’s political party website, according to an AP report today.

On The New Alliance Party's website is a video of a person wearing a Guy Fawkes mask urging Mexicans to hack into official websites and email accounts to look for evidence of corruption and make it public.

“Anonymous” is an international hacker movement to expose collaborators of Mexico's notorious Zetas drugs cartel has came to an abrupt end a week ago. They backed away from publishing the names after an alleged counter-threat of mass retaliatory killings.

Showing that restraint is many time the better part of valor, an Anonymous participant relinquished. "This moves the operation from being a risk to knowing that I would be murdering people," Anonymous participant Barrett Brown told the Guardian in an article on November 4th.

Twitter users claiming to belong to "Anonymous" posted messages of the hack Sunday coinciding with the Michoacan state elections. They also say hacked the Michoacan Electoral Institute's website, which has been down for hours.

Presidential sister Luisa Maria Calderon is seeking the governor's seat in Michoacan's vote.

President Calderon has been criticized for not taking the steps needed to stop the violence in his country. Last September he was accused by victims' groups for minimizing the impact of violence on innocents. One of those groups is headed by the poet Javier Sicilia, who lost his son to an attack by drug gangs.

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Mexican drug traffickers undermine elections

Dozens of candidates in the state of Michoacan drop out of their races because of threats from drug cartels.

Reporting from Mexico City—
The manner in which drug traffickers have undermined Mexico's democracy was illustrated Sunday in Michoacan, home state of President Felipe Calderon and site of violent local elections.

Dozens of candidates dropped out of their races because of threats from drug-trafficking cartels. A mayor was assassinated a week before the vote as he campaigned on behalf of Calderon's sister, who is running for governor.

Luisa Maria Calderon led most polls going into Sunday's vote, and her win could serve as a morale boost for her brother's conservative National Action Party, or PAN, ahead of next year's presidential election.

But Michoacan, the state where President Calderon launched his military-led offensive against heavily armed drug cartels in December 2006, is a glaring example of the way traffickers have infiltrated the political system.

The state has long been trapped under the thumb of cartels that are the hemisphere's biggest producers and exporters of methamphetamine, organizations that also have penetrated local police forces and city halls. They frequently dictate who runs for office and who votes in elections.

German Tena, regional president of PAN, said armed men showed up at several voting booths Sunday, giving orders to people on how to cast their ballots.

A quarter of the state's voting booths had not been opened by midday, although the reasons were unclear and varied from locale to locale. Most were opened within six hours after voting started. In the Cheran municipality, elections were called off altogether, though the reason seemed to have more to do with local indigenous traditions than danger from organized crime.

"We are asking all the people of Michoacan to go out and vote in peace," Gov. Leonel Godoy said.

Godoy represents the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, which has long dominated Michoacan politics. But he has been criticized as having failed to quell the violence that is sweeping the state. The PRD's candidate in the gubernatorial race is Silvano Aureoles Conejo; running for the other party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, is Fausto Vallejo, the mayor of the state capital, Morelia.

In La Piedad, the Michoacan city where the mayor was killed this month, the local newspaper published an ad warning people against campaigning on behalf of the PAN. The newspaper added a notice that it was publishing the warning under duress.

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Op maandag 14 november 2011 00:56 schreef El_Matador het volgende:

[..]

Grappige manier van verslaggeving. Maar erg veel wijzer word je er niet van. Ontkenning is geen bewijs natuurlijk, maar misschien dat het iets zegt. Ik geloof het niet zo, eerlijk gezegd.

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Op dinsdag 15 november 2011 12:14 schreef Elvislives het volgende:

[..]

El Chapo had een tijd terug ook een interview met El Universal. Naar aanleiding daarvan werd er ook flinke kritiek geuit op de overheid dat dus de journalisten wél weten waar hij zich bevindt, maar dat het leger 'zogenaamd' geen idee heeft. Heb er natuurlijk weer es geen bronnen bij

quote:

Op woensdag 16 november 2011 02:36 schreef El_Matador het volgende:
War on Drugs:

CDA: Nederland moet qat verbieden
_{di 15 nov 2011, 22:04}

DEN HAAG - Nederland moet qat verbieden, vindt het CDA. Vooral de Somaliërs in ons land kauwen het de hele nacht en zijn dan de volgende dag uitgeteld. Zo integreren ze natuurlijk niet, gaat Mirjam Sterk betogen bij de begroting Integratie deze week.

In juni bleek dat de gemeente Uithoorn een doorvoerhaven is voor de drug naar Zweden, herinnert ze zich. „Alle reden dus om de drugs te verbieden. Nederland is op dit moment nog het enige land dat dit niet heeft gedaan”, aldus het Tweede Kamerlid.
_{Bron: Telegraaf}

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Leading international drug-war expert Sanho Tree, with whom I appeared on a panel a couple of years back at the C.U. Boulder Conference on World Affairs, argues that drug cartels are not in the business of killing people. It’s bad for business. Certainly a drug cartel or a random street gang may fight for control of trafficking corridors, but state-directed drug arrests remove players and thus open valuable real estate over which rival gangs then fight.

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Mexico: Journalists under attack in fresh wave of violence

Fresh attacks against media outlets in Mexico highlight the authorities’ failure to take measures to protect journalists from a wave of intimidation and violence by armed gangs, Amnesty International said today.

Gunmen set a car alight and fired bullets outside the offices of a newspaper in the northern city of Torreón, Coahuila state, yesterday, while a newsroom in the eastern state of Veracruz was ransacked by armed attackers on 6 November.

“As these latest incidents show, Mexico continues to be one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a journalist,” said Javier Zuñiga, Special Adviser to Amnesty International.

“The Mexican authorities must demonstrate that threats and violence against the media will not be tolerated, by putting in place effective preventative measures and by carrying out a thorough, impartial investigation into the attacks and swiftly bringing those responsible to justice.”

At least three armed men reportedly took part in the attack on the newspaper El Siglo de Torreón in the northern state of Coahuila early on Tuesday morning.

In addition to setting a car alight outside the main entrance to the newspaper’s offices, the gunmen shot at least 20 live rounds at an adjacent building, which houses a sister publication. No one was hurt in the attack.

Shots were also fired at the newspaper’s offices in August 2009, while several other media outlets in and around Torreón have come under attack and journalists have been abducted in recent years by organized crime groups.

In the neighbouring state of Zacatecas, authorities are investigating the case of two delivery workers from the newspaper El Financiero, who have been missing since Monday afternoon after they reportedly informed colleagues they were being followed by police.

Meanwhile on 6 November El Buen Tono, a daily in the eastern port city of Veracruz was ransacked by gunmen who vandalized equipment and set fire to the newspaper’s offices.

UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression Frank La Rue has said Mexico is the most violent country in the Americas for journalists, and the fifth most dangerous worldwide.

According to figures published in September by the state-funded National Human Rights Commission (Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos, CNDH), 74 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2000, including at least eight so far this year. Those behind the attacks and killings are virtually never identified or brought to justice.

Given the high risk to reporters, particularly at local level, regional Mexican media outlets often take precautions like toning down their coverage or completely ignoring issues surrounding crime and insecurity.

“The self-censorship brought on by Mexico’s violent war on organized crime is eroding freedom of expression in some parts of the country,” said Javier Zuñiga.

“The authorities must do more to ensure effective protection measures for journalists so they can carry on their work without facing intimidation or physical attacks. The most urgent measure needed is to end the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for attacks on journalists and media outlets.”

quote:

Op woensdag 16 november 2011 11:25 schreef Viajero het volgende:

[..]

Mooi. Dus alle Somaliers in Nederland stoppen nu met qat kauwen. Want het is nu verboden. En als het verboden is, verdwijnt het vanzelf.

quote:

Op woensdag 16 november 2011 23:34 schreef El_Matador het volgende:

[..]

Ik heb er geen ervaring mee, maar qat is zo ongeveer de meest onschuldige drug volgens mij. Misschien dat je er mondkanker van krijgt, maar dat krijg je van meezingen met Frans Bauer ook.

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Op woensdag 16 november 2011 23:40 schreef LXIV het volgende:

[..]

Qat is fysiek misschien onschadelijk, maar als mannen het de hele nacht kauwen en overdag daardoor gewoon helemaal niks doen dan zijn de sociale gevolgen wel enorm.

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Op woensdag 16 november 2011 23:40 schreef LXIV het volgende:

[..]

Qat is fysiek misschien onschadelijk, maar als mannen het de hele nacht kauwen en overdag daardoor gewoon helemaal niks doen dan zijn de sociale gevolgen wel enorm.

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Op woensdag 16 november 2011 23:40 schreef LXIV het volgende:

[..]

Qat is fysiek misschien onschadelijk, maar als mannen het de hele nacht kauwen en overdag daardoor gewoon helemaal niks doen dan zijn de sociale gevolgen wel enorm.

quote:

Authorities: Tons of drugs went through cross-border tunnel

(CNN) -- A nondescript white warehouse building in southern California hid a sophisticated drug smuggling tunnel that traffickers used to transport tons of marijuana from Mexico into the United States, authorities said.

Investigators on both sides of the border seized more than 14.5 tons of marijuana in connection with the tunnel's discovery this week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement Wednesday.

Authorities said the drugs had a street value of more than $25 million, CNN affiliate KGTV reported.

"I'm confident that if these cartels want to continue to try to smuggle their drugs into the United States in this fashion, we're going to find them, and we're going to find them faster than they can build them," said William R. Sherman, acting special agent in charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration in San Diego.

From the floor of the San Diego warehouse, authorities found a 3-foot-wide tunnel that stretched the length of four football fields and was equipped with structural supports, electricity and ventilation, ICE's statement said.

Highway troopers found 3 tons of marijuana packed into boxes inside a cargo truck that they stopped after it left the San Diego warehouse. That discovery allowed agents to obtain a warrant to enter the warehouse, the statement said, where they recovered 6.5 additional tons of marijuana. Mexican authorities later seized at least 5 tons of marijuana from a warehouse in Tijuana, Mexico, on the other end of the tunnel.

Sherman said it was the third sophisticated cross-border tunnel found in the area within a year.

U.S. federal authorities have found more than 75 cross-border smuggling tunnels in the past four years, most of them in California and Arizona, according to ICE.

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Ex-head of MI5 calls on government to decriminalise and regulate cannabis

Change policy and look at alternative ways of combating UK's drugs culture, says Eliza Manningham-Buller

The former head of MI5 believes the "war on drugs" has proved fruitless and it is time to consider decriminalising the possession and use of small quantities of cannabis.

Eliza Manningham-Buller has backed calls for the government to set up a commission to examine how to tackle the UK's drug culture and consider the highly controversial move of relaxing the law.

She was speaking at a meeting held by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Drug Policy Reform on Thursday where senior government representatives met experts from across the world to consider ways of combating the issue.

The cross-bench peer said the current policy was failing and it was time to look at alternative ways of tackling the production and use of drugs by assessing how other countries are dealing with the problem. She believes serious consideration needs to be given to the idea of regulating cannabis so that its psychotic effects can be controlled more closely.

"For the next 50, years do we continue on the same well-worn policy track which has proved so successful so far?," she said. "Or will we acknowledge the truth, that we are unlikely to address the harm that is being caused to the world unless we accept, as the US Senate recently did, that much [not all] of the vast expenditure on the so called 'war on drugs' has been fruitless?

"Would harm be reduced if cannabis was regulated so that its more dangerous components, which can lead to psychosis, were eliminated? Should we follow Portugal's example and focus on drug use as a health issue rather than a crime issue?"

Manningham-Buller said there was too much of a knee-jerk opposition to changing drug policy but it is an issue that needs to be at the forefront of national debate.

She urged politicians to come up with a more successful way of tackling the issue by assessing evidence that looks at how to reduce the harmful effects of drugs in a cost-effective approach.

Christian Guy, policy director of the Centre for Social Justice, agreed that the war on drugs was failing but said it would be dangerous to "wave a white flag in surrender".

He added: "Giving up the fight to tackle illicit drug use now would be disastrous; it would further fuel the social breakdown and addiction poverty which destroys so many lives.

"It would send the wrong signal to those who are counting on our help."

quote:

Rise in use of cocaine has peaked, says EU drug agency report

Britons remain biggest users of cocaine in Europe as experts warn of new threat from synthetic drugs

The relentless rise in the use of cocaine across Europe over the past decade has peaked as a result of the austere economic climate, according to the European Union's drug agency.

However, the UK remains at the top of the European league table for cocaine use – as it has for seven out of the last eight years – despite the bubble bursting.

The annual report from the Lisbon-based European monitoring centre for drugs and drug addiction, published on Tuesday, shows illicit drug use across the EU relatively stable, with positive signs that cocaine use has peaked and cannabis use among young people continuing to decline.

But the agency says this encouraging picture is being offset by new threats from 'legal highs' and other synthetic drugs. It says that 39 new substances have been identified so far this year via the European early warning system on top of the 41 notified for the whole of 2010.

There are no signs of decline in their use and more than 150 new substances are being monitored by the authorities.

The EU drugs agency said this rapid appearance of new substances is being driven by a record 600 online retailers willing to despatch an order for what purports to be 'psychoactive substances' to at least one other EU state. The total includes 80 online shops selling mephedrone based in the UK.

The July survey that found these retailers also discovered a much wider variety of products. Many also displayed prominent disclaimers such as 'not for human consumption' or 'for use only as plant food'. Others exercised caution by placing restrictions on delivery.

Ireland and Poland have both rapidly passed legislation limiting the open sale of 'legal highs'. Health inspectors in Poland closed down 1,200 stores last year.

The report says cocaine has established itself over the past decade as the most popular stimulant drug across Europe with more than 4 million people using it every year.

"But the new data presented today raises the question as to whether its popularity has now peaked," it adds. "The financial burden associated with regular cocaine use may make it a less attractive option in countries where austerity is now the order of the day."

Experts say the bubble has burst because the average retail price for cocaine has reached between 50 and 80 euros per gram. There is also a growing recognition of the problems linked to cocaine use that has tarnished its image as an affluent lifestyle drug.

The EU data shows cocaine use by young adults, aged 15 to 34, in the UK has dipped from 6.1% in 2009 to 4.8% in 2010, with similar declines in Spain, Italy and Denmark.

The fall in popularity also echoes recent trends in Canada and the US, which have cocaine popularity levels below those in Britain.

Cannabis remains Europe's most popular illicit drug with 78 million – or 20% of all Europeans – having tried it. Around 22.5 million Europeans used cannabis in the last year but its popularity is in sharp decline among schoolchildren.

A link with declining levels of cigarette smoking, changing fashions and the easy availability of other drugs may all lie behind the decline, said the experts. The proportion of schoolchildren in England who have ever tried cannabis has almost halved from 40% in 2000 to 22% last year.

Wolfgang Gotz, the EU drugs agency director, said the drugs market was quick to adapt to threats and opportunities: "This is reflected, not only in the sheer number of new substances appearing on the market, but also in their diversity and in how they are produced, distributed and marketed," he said.

"We need a proactive strategy that allows us to identify new drugs and emerging trends so that we can anticipate their potential implications."

He warned that individual national efforts were likely to prove ineffective without a co-ordinated response across Europe.

quote:

In Mexico, widespread human rights abuse by gov’t in drug war

Mexico - Mexico’s war on drugs has led to widespread human rights violations committed by the country’s military and police, with a new report revealing evidence strongly suggesting these security forces are participating in torture, disappearances and murder.

A new 212-page Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, Neither Rights Nor Security: Killings, Torture, and Disappearances in Mexicos War on Drugs (pdf), takes a close look at President Felipe Calderóns efforts in battling the countrys violent drug cartels.

The report is based on in-depth research conducted in five of Mexicos most violent states: Baja California, Chihuahua, Guerrero, Nuevo León, and Tabasco. HRW found Mexicos security forces systematically use torture in obtaining forced confessions from detainees or in gathering information on the cartels.

Instead of reducing violence, Mexicos war on drugs has resulted in a dramatic increase in killings, torture, and other appalling abuses by security forces, which only make the climate of lawlessness and fear worse in many parts of the country, said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at HRW, in a news release.


Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/314664#ixzz1e8JDPydo

quote:

'KLPD-rapport: Italiaanse maffia-organisatie hartstikke actief in Nederland'

De 'ndrangheta, de machtige maffia-organisatie uit de Italiaanse regio Calabrie, is in Nederland 'hartstikke actief' en zelfs bezig om te infiltreren in de bovenwereld. Dit hebben bronnen bij de politie verklaard tegenover het journalistieke onderzoeksprogramma Argos (Radio 1).

De politiebronnen baseren zich op een rapport van het Korps Landelijke Politiediensten (KLPD). Dit rapport, getiteld 'De 'ndrangheta in Nederland', werd afgelopen juni al voltooid, maar is ondanks herhaalde verzoeken van Argos nooit publiek gemaakt.

Antimaffia-eenheid
De PvdA wil naar aanleiding van de Argos-uitzending dat de politie een speciale antimaffia-eenheid opricht om de Italiaanse misdaadorganisaties in Nederland beter te kunnen aanpakken. PvdA-Kamerlid Jeroen Recourt gaat zijn voorstel voor een 'specifiek rechercheonderdeel' tegen de maffia morgen (dinsdag) voorleggen aan minister Opstelten van Veiligheid en Justitie.

Het KLPD-rapport beschrijft, volgens bronnen die inzage hebben gehad, niet alleen de vermenging tussen boven- en onderwereld, maar meldt tevens de aanwezigheid van 'ndrangheta-cellen die op instigatie van de maffiaorganisatie actief worden.

De studie doet geen aanbevelingen over de manier waarop de 'ndrangheta in Nederland moet worden aangepakt. 'Maar mij bekroop na lezing in elk geval wel het gevoel: hier moeten we meer aan doen', zegt een politiefunctionaris in Argos.

Het KLPD bevestigt het bestaan van het rapport, maar wil niet ingaan op de inhoud ervan. Het korps laat wel weten dat de vermenging van boven- en onderwereld 'voor de hand ligt'. 'Het kan worden beschouwd als een randvoorwaarde voor de bedrijfsvoering van elke misdaadondernemer.'

Noodklok
Vorig jaar luidden enkele vooraanstaande Italiaanse maffiabestrijders in Argos al de noodklok over de activiteiten van de Italiaanse misdaadorganisaties in Nederland. De maffia gebruikt Nederland volgens deze deskundigen niet alleen als een van de belangrijkste doorvoerhavens van drugs, maar is hier ook geworteld. Zo bleken twee daders van de bloedige maffia-afrekening in een Italiaans restaurant in Duisburg, in 2007, in Amsterdam te wonen. De maffiabestrijders riepen politie en justitie in Nederland op om hun pijlen actiever op de Italiaanse misdaadsyndicaten te richten.

Het rapport van het KLPD over de 'ndrangheta lijkt de analyse van de Italiaanse deskundigen te bevestigen. Het document is volgens het KLPD binnenskamers gebleven 'omdat het geen doel was om een openbaar rapport te maken'. Maar 'gezien de brede interesse van buiten de politie', wil het korps het rapport 'op korte termijn' toch openbaar maken.

quote:

Nederland moet qat verbieden. De Tweede Kamer heeft de regering vandaag opgeroepen dat snel te regelen, zodat gebruik van het verdovende middel volgend jaar al kan worden teruggedrongen.

Het CDA was gekomen met het verbod omdat qatgebruik vooral de integratie van Somaliërs in Nederland in de weg zou staan. Kauwen van de bladeren en takjes zou schooluitval en langdurige werkloosheid in de hand werken.

Een adviescommissie beval al eens aan naar qat te kijken, dat nu als softdrug wordt gezien. Omringende landen treden veel strenger op tegen gebruik van dit middel. Daardoor dreigt Nederland een doorvoerhaven voor dit middel te worden.

Het kabinet besloot al eerder van de partydrug GHB en van sterke wiet en hasj harddrugs te maken.

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Twee vrachtwagens vol lijken gevonden in Mexico

De autoriteiten in de Mexicaanse stad Guadalajara hebben in twee vrachtwagens en een auto de lijken van zeker 20 mensen gevonden. Dat heeft het Openbaar Ministerie (OM) in de deelstaat Jalisco, waarvan Guadalajara de hoofdstad is, meegedeeld.

Guadalajara is met 4,4 miljoen inwoners de op een na grootste stad in Mexico.

De lichamen van de doden waren vastgebonden en gekneveld, aldus de woordvoerder van het OM. In een van de wagens heeft de politie een boodschap van een criminele bende gevonden, maar de woordvoerder wilde daarover verder niets zeggen.

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Wietsatelliet boven Limburg (Nederland)

De European Space Agency (ESA) gaat in samenwerking met het anti-wietproject Het Groene Goud ruimtevaarttechnieken toepassen om buitenhennep op te sporen. Het gaat om een pilot, die in het voorjaar van 2012 van start gaat in Noord-Limburg.

^{_{Venlo/Venray
Door Marco van Kampen}}

De organisatie van het Europese ruimtebureau heeft opdracht gekregen om ruimtetechnieken breder in te zetten, onder andere voor de politie. Hennepdetectie sluit daar bij aan. Bij de pilot in Noord-Limburg wordt het Korps Landelijke Politiediensten (KLPD) dan ook nauw betrokken.

De ESA gaat via satellieten experimenteren met een techniek waarmee hennep onderscheiden kan worden van andere gewassen. Dit gebeurt op basis van het meten van golflengten. Het ruimtebureau test verschillende observatiemethoden om te onderzoeken welke het meest effectief is. Daarvoor gebruikt de ESA onder meer high resolution multispectrale instrumenten, bedoeld om afwijkingen in velden waar te nemen. Daarnaast worden innovatieve sensoren getest. De ESA en de KLPD vinden het op dit moment nog te prematuur om nadere uitleg te geven over de onderzoekmethodes. "Het project zit nog in de onderzoeksfase”, aldus een woordvoerder van de KLPD. "Tegen de tijd dat de pilot van start gaat, kunnen we concretere informatie geven over de invulling.”

De basis van het onderzoek is Het Groene Goud, vanwege de historische gegevens van het project en de methodes die gebruikt worden bij de aanpak van wietteelt. Vooralsnog speurt Het Groene Goud met helikopters naar hennep in maïsvelden. Als de proef met ruimtevaarttechnieken een succes blijkt, zijn de helikopters in de toekomst niet meer nodig.

Volgens een woordvoerder van de gemeente Venlo wordt de pilot "internationaal op de voet gevolgd”. Hoeveel geld erin wordt gestoken, is nog niet duidelijk.

http://www.limburger.nl/a(...)elliet_boven_Limburg
^{_{Gepubliceerd op: 25.11.11 07:00}}

quote:

De European Space Agency (ESA) gaat in samenwerking met het anti-wietproject Het Groene Goud ruimtevaarttechnieken toepassen om buitenhennep op te sporen. Het gaat om een pilot, die in het voorjaar van 2012 van start gaat in Noord-Limburg.

quote:

Op vrijdag 25 november 2011 11:49 schreef Boris_Karloff het volgende:
Wie is er aan de winnende hand?

quote:

Op vrijdag 25 november 2011 11:49 schreef Boris_Karloff het volgende:
Wie is er aan de winnende hand?

quote:

Activists accuse Mexican president of war crimes in drug crackdown

International criminal court asked to investigate Felipe Caldéron over killing, torture and kidnap of civilians by army and police

Mexican human rights activists have asked the international criminal court to investigate President Felipe Caldéron, as well as top officials and the country's most-wanted drug trafficker, accusing them of allowing subordinates to kill, torture and kidnap civilians.

Netzai Sandoval, a Mexican human rights lawyer, filed a complaint with the ICC in The Hague on Friday, requesting an investigation of the deaths of hundreds of civilians at the hands of the military and traffickers.

More than 45,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico since 2006 as powerful cartels fight security forces and each other for control of smuggling routes into the neighbouring United States and other countries.

"The violence in Mexico is bigger than the violence in Afghanistan, the violence in Mexico is bigger than in Colombia," Sandoval said.

"We want the prosecutor to tell us if war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Mexico, and if the president and other top officials are responsible."

Signed by 23,000 Mexican citizens, the complaint names the Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, who has a $5m bounty on his head, as well as the public security minister, Genaro Garcia Luna, and the commanders of the army and navy.

A decision by ICC prosecutors on whether to investigate could take months or years, legal experts said.

The Mexican government has denied it is "at war" and said the use of the military in its battle against drug gangs is a temporary measure taken at the request of state governments. "The established security policy in no way constitutes an international crime. On the contrary, all its actions are focused on stopping criminal organisations and protecting all citizens," said an interior ministry statement.

The office of the ICC prosecutor said in a statement it had the request, which it would study and "make a decision in due course".

Richard Dicker, an international justice expert with Human Rights Watch, said: "There are a large number of boxes that the prosecutor would need to check off before he could actually open an investigation.

"It's possible ... but I think you want to be clear on what the challenges and obstacles are."

In considering the case, ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo will have to decide if the crimes presented in the activists' complaint, such as the torture of criminal suspects, qualify as crimes against humanity. "The crimes would have to be widespread or systematic, carried out by a state or organisation in attacks on a civilian population," Dicker said.

"It's certainly very arguable," said William Schabas, professor of international law at Middlesex University. "The prosecutor has been very focused on Africa. The pattern is he stays within the comfort zone of the United States. Going after Mexicans for the war on drugs falls outside that comfort zone."

Activists say Caldéron has systematically allowed Mexican troops to commit abuses against civilians since the military was deployed to fight drug traffickers in 2006. More than 50,000 soldiers are battling cartels around the country, while the ranks of federal police have swelled from 6,000 to 35,000 under Caldéron's watch.

A Human Rights Watch report said there was evidence Mexican police and soldiers were involved in 170 cases of torture, 24 murders and 39 forced disappearances in five Mexican states. "We have known for five years that the Mexican army is committing sexual abuse, executing people, torturing people and kidnapping, and there have been no sanctions," Sandoval said.

Mexico's national human rights commission received more than 4,000 complaints of abuses by the army from 2006 to 2010. In the same period it issued detailed reports on 65 cases involving army abuse, according to Human Rights Watch.

quote:

Op vrijdag 25 november 2011 12:09 schreef Basp1 het volgende:

[..]

Altijd de onderwereld. De overheid blijft structureel achter de feiten aanlopen. Zolang je dingen verbied wordt het lucratief voor de onderwereld om er in te gaan handelen.

En deze wietstatteliet is weer het volgende propaganda verhaaltje van onze overheid om de bang gemaakte burgers maar te laten geloven dat ze van alles doen om de teelt te bestrijden.

2 jaar geleden hadden ze het toch over onbemande reuk vliegtuigjes die ook zo kwekerijen zouden moeten kunnen opsporen hoeveel horen we daar nu nog over? Niets meer, we kunnen wel raden waarom, omdat het niet werkt. . Het vervelende is alleen dat het onze als maatschappij veel geld kost om zo'n onzinnige strijd te moeten voeren.