US Support for Mexico's Drug War Goes Beyond Guns and Money

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/27726-with-40-presumed-killed-us-secret-manpower-in-mexico-s-drug-war-exposed

Monday, 01 December 2014 11:40
By Mike LaSusa and Angelika Albaladejo, Truthout | News Analysis


Mexican federal police forces in the border city of Ciudad Juarez. (Image via Shutterstock)

In spite of widely acknowledged and rampant corruption in Mexico's security and law enforcement institutions, implicated in the September disappearance of more than 40 college students, the United States continues to supply the country with well over $100 million per year in military and police assistance, including world-class weapons, training and intelligence.

Now, a new report from the Wall Street Journal is adding fuel to long-standing criticisms of the United States' extensive role in helping to execute the so-called "war on drugs" in Latin America. Evidently, the United States has gone well beyond simply providing diplomatic, financial and technical support for Mexico's fight against organized crime; it even puts its own personnel on the front lines.

The Journal reported recently that the US Marshal Service has repeatedly sent "specialists," disguised as local security forces, into Mexico to hunt down suspected criminals, including some who aren't on a US wanted list.

The US Marshal Service describes its role as "carrying out extraditions to the United States from foreign countries and supporting extraditions to foreign countries from the United States." Its mandate does not include capturing suspected criminals wanted by foreign governments within their own borders.

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