MEXICO CITY — The arrest of a drug cartel lieutenant as he stepped off a private plane has sparked a debate about whether Mexico is winning the drug war or facing a fearless enemy.
Soldiers arrested Rodolfo Lopez Ibarra in Monterrey on Tuesday.
The surprising thing wasn’t Lopez Ibarra’s private plane. It was what Lopez allegedly told soldiers after the arrested: He said he received his latest orders from Arturo Beltran Leyva at a baptism party held by the most-wanted cartel leader at the seaside resort of Acapulco.
Rather than hiding in remote mountain redoubts, Mexico’s most wanted traffickers are partying openly.
"This indicates ... that they don’t have any fear at all of the authorities, none at all,” said Samuel Gonzalez, Mexico’s former top anti-drug prosecutor.
But Jose Luis Pineyro, a sociologist at Mexico’s Autonomous Metropolitan University who studies the drug trade, says, "That they can walk around openly in public doesn’t just mean they don’t care; it means they know the police won’t do anything to them.” The sociologist noted that corruption scandals have blossomed across Mexico recently.
Soldiers arrested Rodolfo Lopez Ibarra in Monterrey on Tuesday.
The surprising thing wasn’t Lopez Ibarra’s private plane. It was what Lopez allegedly told soldiers after the arrested: He said he received his latest orders from Arturo Beltran Leyva at a baptism party held by the most-wanted cartel leader at the seaside resort of Acapulco.
Rather than hiding in remote mountain redoubts, Mexico’s most wanted traffickers are partying openly.
"This indicates ... that they don’t have any fear at all of the authorities, none at all,” said Samuel Gonzalez, Mexico’s former top anti-drug prosecutor.
But Jose Luis Pineyro, a sociologist at Mexico’s Autonomous Metropolitan University who studies the drug trade, says, "That they can walk around openly in public doesn’t just mean they don’t care; it means they know the police won’t do anything to them.” The sociologist noted that corruption scandals have blossomed across Mexico recently.
by the associated press
No comments:
Post a Comment