Legal Commentary

Holder Trumpets Continuation of War on Drugs

By Jeralyn

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the arrest of 52 people in a continuation of a Bush Administration drug investigation of the Mexican cartels. The operation began 21 months ago. The total number of arrests (a number of whom are low level traffickers) is 750.

The military may get involved in the effort:

The Homeland Security Department has developed a plan to send more agents and other resources, and possibly U.S. military support, to the U.S. side of the border if the drug violence continues to spill over and overwhelm the agents stationed there, a DHS official confirmed.

The Pentagon is looking into a larger role in bolstering counter-narcotics efforts. Adm. Dennis C. Blair, the director of national intelligence, told Congress Wednesday that the corruptive influence and increasing violence of the cartels has undermined Mexico City's ability to govern parts of its own country.

Another Holder plan that should be no surprise: He wants to bring back the assault weapons ban.

Just last month, the former head of Mexico's special organized crime bureau was charged with selling information to the Sinaloa cartel.

As part of the new cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico, Miguel Caro Quintero was turned over to the U.S. for prosecution. The crimes he was indicted for occurred between 1985 and 1993. We're going to try someone for crimes committed 20 - 25 years ago? Why him? My guess:

He is the brother of Rafael Caro Quintero, a kingpin who was convicted and sentenced in Mexico for the 1985 killing of a U.S. drug agent, Enrique Camarena.

What's this costing the U.S.? Here's the 2008 Supplemental Funding Plan for Operation Meridia. (More here.)

Here's why Plan Mexico will crash and burn.

Plan Mexico, the US military and police aid package to the Mexican government, is based on a failed “war on drugs” model. This model prioritizes criminalizing the drug trade at the expense of focusing on the harmful effects of drug abuse and addiction as a public health problem. The result has been a blood-soaked disaster.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on February 25, 2009 (boomark / email).