Drug Profits Fuel Mexico

MIAMI Profits laundered in Mexico from the illegal drug trade are believed
to be as high as $15 billion annually, Latin Trade magazine says.

The figure is equivalent to 5% of Mexico's gross domestic product.

If the flow is stopped,Mexico's economy could be seriously destabilized,
the Miamibased business monthly said in a special report in its September
issue.

The border state of Sonora has become a main shipping center for cocaine
from Bolivia, Peru and Colombia heading into the United States, as well as
for homegrown marijuana.

"While the drugs go in one direction, the money from the trade comes back
in the other,often in the same falsebottomed containers,yachts and donkey
packs in which the drugs went north, "the magazine said.

The money is invested in real estate and the Mexican stock and bond markets.

Reuters