A report by the Brookings Institution has found that the US led War on drugs has failed. From the LA Times: The United States’ war on drugs has failed and will continue to do so as long as it emphasizes law enforcement and neglects the problem of consumption, a Washington think tank says in a report co-chaired [...]

Mexico President Felipe Calderon is continuing to promise that he will clean up his own government after several high profile officials were found to have been taking money from drug cartels. From the AP (via Google News): Calderon’s sweeping crackdown on powerful drug cartels has in recent weeks been shaken by a nationwide corruption scandal. The government revealed [...]

The former Drug Czar in Mexico was arrested on suspicion that he accepted $450,000 a month from drug smugglers. From CNN: Mexican authorities have detained the country’s former drug czar on suspicion that he may have accepted $450,000 a month in bribes from drug traffickers, Mexico’s attorney general said Friday. Noe Ramirez Mandujano was in charge from 2006 [...]

Users of cocaine are destroying the rainforest, according to law enforcement officials. From the Guardian: Four square metres of rainforest are destroyed for every gram of cocaine snorted in the UK, a conference of senior police officers as told yesterday. Francisco Santos Calderón, the vice-president of Colombia, appealed to British users of the class A drug to consider [...]

Mexico’s Liaison to Interpol was placed under house arrest for his ties to drug cartels. From the AP (via Google News): A top police official who worked as Mexico’s main liaison with Interpol was placed under house arrest as part of an investigation into leaks of information to drug cartels, prosecutors said Tuesday. The arrest of Ricardo Gutierrez [...]

The impact of the drug war in Mexico is being felt across the United States. From the Los Angeles Times: The drug violence that has left about 4,000 people dead this year in Mexico is spreading deep into the United States, leaving a trail of slayings, kidnappings and other crimes in at least 195 cities as far [...]

A Calgary man is believed to be the first conviction under an anti-piracy law in Canada. From CBC News: A Calgary man is believed to be the first person convicted in Canada under new movie pirating legislation when he pleaded guilty to the unauthorized recording of the Johnny Depp movie Sweeney Todd. Richard Lissaman was arrested in a [...]

The elite in Mexico are spending more on private bodyguards as the drug war and kidnapping spread throughout the country. From the New York Times: With drug-related violence spinning out of control and kidnappings a proven money-maker for criminal gangs, members of Mexico’s upper class find themselves juggling the spoils of their status with the fear of [...]

Organized Crime in Canada is branching out into various activities to increase its revenue. From the Vancouver Sun: Organized criminals in Canada still rely on the drug trade for profits, but are branching out into all kinds of new illegal businesses, RCMP Commissioner William Elliott said Wednesday. Elliott told the Vancouver Board of Trade that some members of [...]

Author Carlos Fuentes commented that the violence in Mexico due to its ongoing drug war is worse than fiction. From the AFP (via Google News): “We want to be writers but they turn us into prophets,” said Mexican author Carlos Fuentes, one of the Spanish-speaking world’s best-known living novelists, whose latest book explores Mexico’s growing violence. One character [...]