Mexico's Secret Drug Museum

Crime-ridden Mexico City is now looking pretty good

(NEWSER) - As the bloody stain of drug violence seeps into Mexico's border towns and resort areas alike, Mexicans are taking refuge in a place that would have been unthinkable even five short years ago: Mexico City. The capital city, long known as a place where cops could be bought and petty crooks ran rampant, is now a veritable safe haven in comparison to the drug war raging outside. "We haven't had heads cut off. We don't have blockades. We don't have shooting in the streets," says an anti-crime group advocate. "We have some robberies." More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama began his first official Latin American tour with a visit to Mexico City today, the New York Times reports. Obama landed this afternoon for the first presidential visit to Mexico’s capital since the Clinton administration. He’ll meet with Felipe Calderón to discuss the economy, trade disputes, and above all the ongoing drug war plaguing the country. More»

Marijuana smugglers get creative, or turn to growing dope inside US

(NEWSER) - The Mexican marijuana trade is flourishing, and border-protection efforts do little to deter powerful cartels from working in the US, the New York Times reports. Smugglers drop ramps over border fences and drive across, or use a new tactic: planting the pot in the US. Cartels now function in 195 US cities, compared to some 50 in 2006, the Justice Department says. More»

Politicians take aim at plastic weapons in war on violence

(NEWSER) - A bill proposed in Mexico takes aim at the production, sale and use of toy guns to reduce aggression among kids inundated by news of burgeoning drug-violence, the Guardian reports. Despite an earlier ban on realistic replicas, plastic weapons are still easy to find on the streets and used in a third of "armed" robberies in Mexico City. More»

Former head of elite 'corruption-proof' unit accused of passing info to drug cartels

(NEWSER) - The former chief of Mexico's anti-drug operations has been arrested on suspicion of taking massive bribes from drug cartels, the Wall Street Journal reports. Noe Ramirez, accused of pocketing $450,000 for passing information on investigations to drug kingpins, is the highest-ranking official arrested so far in "Operation Cleanup," the Mexican campaign to root out corruption that has already fingered 35 high-ranking law enforcement officials. More»