Pubdate: Mon, 20 Oct 2014
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2014 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Jeffrey Zinsmeister
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n796/a04.html

THE BUYING AND SELLING OF MEXICAN POLICE OFFICERS

To the Editor:

Re "Mexico's Cartel Government," by Ioan Grillo (Op-Ed, Oct. 10):

As a former State Department official who covered narcotics issues in 
Mexico from 2012 to this year, I saw "state capture" - the taking 
over of chunks of government apparatus, in this case, local police 
and municipal authorities - up close.

Beyond making atrocities like the suspected massacre in Iguala 
possible, the buying and selling of Mexican police officers also 
warns us against well-intentioned but dangerous efforts to legalize 
the cultivation of drugs there.

Without first eradicating corruption, it is naive at best to think 
that the cartels will allow the Mexican government to take away a 
major profit center. Instead, they will simply co-opt the newly legal business.

Or in quotidian terms: You are a Mexican official running a local 
marijuana-growing operation. Five police officers stop by your home 
after dinner to make a business proposal: 20 percent of your 
revenues, or you and your family will be shot, skinned and torched. 
Is there any doubt what you decide?

JEFFREY ZINSMEISTER

Sao Paulo, Brazil, Oct. 12, 2014
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom