Was Mexican Coke Bust Just for Show?

The timing of Mexico's biggest-ever coke bust was a little too perfect last week, Time says. Mexican police nabbed the nose candy—23.5 tons valued at $400 million—just as Congress was debating whether to send more drug-fighting aid. “We've seen this movie before,” grumbled one expert, who says US aid must be tied to changes with Mexico’s shady federal police.

The timing is right for change, experts say. New Mexican President Felipe Calderon has hit the country's drug cartels, and one of his ministers is vetting out corrupt cops. Now they need funds to pay police so they can resist drug industry temptation. Bush’s two-year, $1.4 billion proposal would also give them high-tech gizmos that the US has carefully guarded until now. (More War on Drugs stories.)