Drug Controversy Is Again Top Issue in U.S.-Mexico Summit

Drug trafficking became a major focus at the annual summit of US and Mexico Cabinet ministers after two newspapers published reports linking a Mexican official and a prominent business family to drug cartels.

This is the second consecutive year that a drug-related dispute has played a prominent role in the annual summit. In 1998, Mexican officials used the summit to express their concerns about the Casablanca sting operation, which the US government used to arrest mid-level managers at Mexican banks for participating in money-laundering activities (see SourceMex, 1998-05-27 and 1998-06-17).

The newspaper reports, based on information obtained from US drug agencies, forced the drug issue to the top of the agenda again this year. The only drug-related item scheduled for discussion at the summit, held June 4 in Mexico City, had been a proposal to expand anti-drug cooperation among law- enforcement agencies along the US-Mexico border.

Report ties key presidential aide to drug traffickers One report, which appeared in The New York Times June 2, said President Ernesto Zedillo's personal secretary Jose Liebano Saenz Ortiz has been under investigation by the Mexican government for nearly a year for using his position to help drug traffickers.

Separately, The Washington Post cited a report compiled by the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) that linked Carlos Hank Gonzalez and his sons, …

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Publication information: Article title: Drug Controversy Is Again Top Issue in U.S.-Mexico Summit. Contributors: Not available. Magazine title: SourceMex Economic News & Analysis on Mexico. Publication date: June 9, 1999. Page number: Not available. © 2009 Latin American Data Base/Latin American Institute. COPYRIGHT 1999 Gale Group.

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