Mexico to decriminalize drug possession
Mexican President Vicente Fox will sign into law a measure that decriminalizes the possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs for personal use, his spokesman said Tuesday.
Spokesman Ruben Aguilar defended the law, which was approved Friday by Mexicos Senate, despite criticism in the United States that it could increase casual drug use.
The President is going to sign this law, said Mr. Aguilar, who called the legislation a better tool … that allows better action and better co-ordination in the fight against drug dealing.
The government believes that this law represents progress, because it established the minimum quantities that a citizen can carry for personal use, Mr. Aguilar said.
Under current Mexican law, judges can drop charges against people caught with drugs if they can prove they are addicts and if an expert certifies they were caught with the quantity necessary for personal use.
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Mexicos Congress Legalizes Drugs for Personal Use
Mexicos Congress approved a bill Friday decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and heroin for personal use — a measure sure to raise questions in Washington about Mexicos commitment to the war on drugs.
The only remaining step was the signature of President Vicente Fox, whose office indicated he would sign it.
Supporters said the law would let police focus on drug smuggling, rather than on busting casual users. The bill also would stiffen many drug-related penalties: for trafficking, for possession near schools, and for possession of even small quantities by government
Mexicos Fox reverses on bill decriminalising drugs
Vicente Fox, Mexicos president, has made a rapid U-turn on a bill that envisaged decriminalising the possession of small amounts of drugs such as heroin, cocaine and LSD.
Mr Fox will ask Congress to undertake the necessary corrections to make it absolutely clear that in our country the possession of drugs and their consumption are, and will continue to be, a crime. Mexico must deepen the fight against drugs.
Only three days ago, the presidents office had said he would sign the bill into law.It is understood the US pressed Mexico over the proposed legislation.
County drug squad helps bust Mexico-Atlanta drug group
Undercover Fayette County drug agents played a role in a months-long investigation of a Mexican drug trafficking operation that netted 28 arrests Wednesday, authorities said.
The multi-state investigation also netted about 592 kilograms of cocaine, more than 40 pounds of methamphetamine and $8 million in cash, officials said. Multiple weapons and more than $1 million in cash was recovered in the metro Atlanta area alone.
The sting, called “Operation Long Whine,†also resulted in about two pounds of crystal methamphetamine — often referred to as “ice†— and the lab which was used
Collaborator of Mexico Drug Lord Sentenced
An alleged cohort of imprisoned drug lord Osiel Cardenas was sentenced Thursday to 44 years in prison on drug-related charges, authorities said.
Adan Javier Medrano was convicted of smuggling drug money from the United States into Mexico and distributing cocaine north of the border, the federal Attorney Generals Office said in a news release.
Medrano served as a gunman for Cardenas Gulf Cartel, which moved tons of cocaine and marijuana into the U.S., and was in charge of drug-related activites in Chiapas state and Guatemala, the release said.
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Mexico officers wary of crossing drug cartels
On the front lines of the drug cartel wars, feigned ignorance can be bliss.
In an environment in which speaking too boldly against drug traffickers can prove deadly — an outspoken police chief was killed here in June only hours after taking office — local authorities prefer to lower their voices.
So it's not surprising that officers for Tamaulipas state and this border city had mixed feelings about legislation submitted to Mexico's Congress last week designed to give them more authority in the fight against "narcos."
One of the proposals would allow them to
Mexico extradites drug lord suspect
Alleged drug kingpin Francisco Rafael Arellano Félix was extradited to the United States on Saturday to face drug charges, becoming the first major Mexican drug lord suspect to be sent north for trial.
Mexicos extradition of the man who is suspected of having once run the Arellano Félix drug clan was a victory for U.S. officials, who have been pushing Mexico to send them more drug lords.
Arellano Félix was loaded into a helicopter in Matamoros, then flown across the border and handed over to Texas officials in Brownsville after serving a 10-year sentence in Mexico. He will
Mexico captures leader of bloody drug gang
Mexico has captured the leader of a drug cartel that has waged a bloody turf war near the U.S. border, the government said on Monday.
Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca said the arrest of Ricardo Garcia Urquiza, a surgeon known as "The Doctor," was a mortal blow to the Juarez cartel, a loose affiliation of drug gangs from the western state of Sinaloa prone to bloody feuding.
"This drug trafficker is probably one of the most important to be arrested in history," Cabeza de Vaca said. "Not only are we detaining an important drug
Mexico to Let Police Pursue Drug Smugglers
Mexico changed its constitution on Monday to allow state and local police to pursue drug traffickers, removing a major stumbling block in anti-drug efforts that had long been the exclusive realm of federal officers.
The measure is part of a package of bills that includes the possibility of using millions of dollars in seized drug money to fund rewards for the capture of traffickers; the blocking of cell phone calls from inside prisons and the registration of bulletproof cars frequently used by drug traffickers.
``We are multiplying our power in an extraordinary way,'' Eduardo
Mexico High Court Allows Drug Extradition to U.S., Reforma Says
Mexico may send its citizens to stand trial abroad where a life sentence is possible, opening the door for extradition of drug traffickers sought by the U.S., the Supreme Court ruled, according to daily Reforma.
The court previously held Mexico couldn't grant U.S. extradition requests for alleged drug traffickers because the life sentences they faced violated the Mexican constitution. The court yesterday ruled that Mexican judges can impose multiple sentences that are effectively no different from a life sentence in the U.S., making extradition permissible, Reforma said.
Convicted drug traffickers
Mexico's most wanted man may be in Guatemala-police
Mexico's most wanted man, drug lord Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, may have entered neighboring Guatemala where police are searching for him, authorities said on Friday.
"We have not yet determined if he is here, but we have evidence that leads us to believe he is inside our territory," Guatemala's anti-drug police chief Adan Castillo told a news conference.
Guzman has been sought in Mexico since he escaped from a high-security jail in 2001. He has engaged in a fierce war with rival drug barons that has killed more than 1,000 people this year.
The United States is
