SOME 'GOOD GUYS' IN DRUG WAR

Last week I provided a basic overview of Mexico's major
narco-cartels, i.e the "bad guys." Naturally, the next step is to
outline the "good guys" (at least they're supposed to be good), i.e.
the law enforcement and military units combating the traffickers.

Well that's no small task. Mexico's highly bureaucratic and
secretive government has created a messy alphabet soup of police
units and "special" military forces that defies quick explanation.

This is partly due to President Calderon's aggressive approach to
countering the cartels and sweeping attempts at reform.
Consequently, there are many new organizations involved in the drug
wars, making it hard to sort out the organizational chart. Here's a
stab, but learn more at www.thiscouldgetinteresting.com.

There are four different levels of law enforcement in Mexico:
municipal (2,400 cities and rural districts), state (31 states), the
"federal district" (Mexico City and its more than 8 million people),
and federal (national). At each level, police come in two
flavors, "preventative" (basically uniformed cops) and "judicial"
(plainclothes investigators).

This labyrinthine setup, with an estimated 350,000 personnel in
3,000 police units/departments, breeds jurisdictional disputes.

The most prominent police organizations fighting the drug wars are:

PGR (federal attorney general's office) oversees several key
agencies (see below) but also has several thousand of its own
plainclothes police.

AFI (federal agency of investigations), under the PGR, is Mexico's
equivalent of the FBI with a strong focus on organized crime and
drug trafficking. The AFI replaced the earlier PJF (federal judicial
police), which was notoriously corrupt.

UEDO (special anti-organized crime unit), also under PGR, is another
entity exclusively dedicated to targeting and breaking up the
narco-cartels. It may be part of the AFI.

FEADS (special prosecutor for crimes against health), apparently
separate from PGR, was created to replace another corrupt agency. It
is also deeply involved in the drug wars and runs the UECLD (special
anti-money-laundering unit) and the Border Rapid Response Groups.

PFP (federal preventative police), established in 1997, is the
product of another broad reform to create a reliable, national
police force. Initially, it combined the Federal Highway Police,
Fiscal Police and the Immigration Police. Since then, it has added a
Brigade of Military Police and officers from the
national intelligence agency, the Center for Research and National
Security (CISEN). The PFP is essentially a uniformed para-military
force for combating the cartels.

Calderon has also committed thousands of soldiers to fight the
narco-insurgency, but the bulk of the Army is under-trained and ill
equipped for anything more than checkpoint duty. There are, however,
Mexican special operations units that are capable and no doubt
heavily involved. These include the FES (Naval Special Forces)
specializing in amphibious and riverine operations, and the BFP
(Infantry Parachute Brigade) of the Mexican Air Force.

The special units most involved in targeting and eliminating cartel
members belong to the Army's secretive GAFE (special forces
airmobile group). GAFE commandos reportedly receive training
worldwide, specialize in counter-terrorism tactics and have
taken down some of the top Mexican cartel leaders.