MEXICO MUST BE A PARTNER Law Enforcement Efforts Are Not Aggressive Enough Once again, the true degree of Mexico's dedication to the international war on drugs has come into question. A report from the Mexican federal attorney general indicates that Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, leader of the infamous Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel who was in Juarez in 1998, was followed by federal agents -- but was not apprehended. This has caused raised eyebrows on the U.S. side of the border. El Paso County Chief Deputy Sheriff Jimmy Apodaca, who's also a member of the West Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area executive committee, couldn't figure out why authorities didn't arrest him while they had the chance. Apodaca said, "They should have arrested him. It was the perfect time to do it. If it had happened here, we can assure you we would have arrested him." The Mexicans' signal failure to take this chance to put out of action a dangerous and effective drug lord leads to the inevitable question: Why? Was it fear, or a lackadaisical attitude or, worse, possibly a result of corruption? And speaking of corruption, according to a Mexican arrest warrant, former Chihuahua Gov. Francisco Barrio Terrazas received payments from Amado Carrillo Fuentes, Vicente's brother and leader of the drug cartel until his death. This was alleged by Tomas Colsa McGregor in a sworn statement in 1997. Colsa later was kidnapped, tortured and killed. Barrio is under no federal charges and, in fact, is under consideration by President-elect Vicente Fox for a possible Cabinet-level post that will focus on cracking down on corruption. This matter must be cleared up quickly. If there is to be substantive progress in the war on drugs, Mexican authorities must be full, willing and enthusiastic partners of the United States. It's certainly not clear that such is the case.
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