DATE=9/23/98 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT NUMBER=5-41439 TITLE=MEXICO DRUGS BYLINE=GREG FLAKUS DATELINE=MEXICO CITY CONTENT= VOICED AT: ///EDS: SPANISH ACT IN BUBBLE/// INTRO: IN MEXICO, DRUG-TRAFFICKING AND CRIME IN GENERAL HAVE BECOME MAJOR THREATS TO SOCIAL ORDER. AS VOA'S GREG FLAKUS REPORTS FROM MEXICO CITY, THE NATION'S ATTORNEY GENERAL FEARS A NEW THREAT, THE RISE OF DRUG DISTRIBUTION AND CONSUMPTION WITHIN NATIONAL TERRITORY. TEXT: FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, MEXICO HAS BEEN THE MAIN TRANS-SHIPMENT AREA FOR NARCOTICS DESTINED FOR THE U-S MARKET. WHILE MEXICO HAS CARRIED ON A FIGHT AGAINST THIS ILLICIT TRADE, WITH SUPPORT FROM THE UNITED STATES, MANY MEXICANS HAVE REGARDED THE WHOLE PROBLEM AS ONE OF HUGE DEMAND FROM NORTH OF THE BORDER. SOME OF THE DRUG TRAFFICKERS HAVE EVEN BEEN CELEBRATED IN MEXICAN FOLK SONGS, KNOWN AS CORRIDOS. /// ACT MUSIC ESTABLISH BRIEFLY, THEN UNDER AND OUT.../// BUT THE VIOLENCE ASSOCIATED WITH THE DRUG TRADE HAS REACHED ALARMING LEVELS. THE ENTIRE NATION REACTED IN SHOCK TO LAST WEEK'S MASSACRE OF AN ENTIRE FAMILY, INCLUDING SMALL CHILDREN, NEAR THE CITY OF ENSENADA. THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE DRUG TRADE. ANOTHER WORRY FOR MEXICANS IS THE EFFECT DRUGS MAY HAVE ON DOMESTIC SOCIETY. HEALTH AUTHORITIES HAVE SEEN AN ALARMING INCREASE IN DRUG ABUSE AMONG MEXICAN YOUTH IN RECENT YEARS. ON TUESDAY, MEXICAN ATTORNEY GENERAL JORGE MADRAZO TOLD THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES THAT DRUG TRAFFICKERS ARE TARGETING MEXICO AS A DOMESTIC MARKET. /// MADRAZO ACT (SPANISH) /// MR MADRAZO SAID NARCOTICS SMUGGLERS ARE NOW PAYING SOME OF THEIR SUBORDINATES WITH DRUGS INSTEAD OF CASH. HE SAID THE DRUG SMUGGLERS MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THESE DRUG PAYMENTS ARE TO BE MARKETED HERE IN MEXICO AND ARE NOT BE TAKEN OVER THE BORDER. THE MEXICAN ATTORNEY GENERAL SAID THIS REPRESENTS A REAL THREAT TO MEXICAN SOCIETY. HE ALSO UNDERSCORED THE NEED TO COMBAT CORRUPTION WITHIN THE MEXICAN POLICE FORCES. /// MADRAZO ACT (SPANISH) /// MR MADRAZO SAID DRUG TRAFFICKERS CORRUPT MEXICO'S SECURITY FORCES WITH WHAT HE CALLED "A RIVER OF GOLD." HE SAID THE ENORMOUS AMOUNTS OF MONEY GAINED FROM THE DRUG TRADE PROVIDE THE SMUGGLERS WITH RESOURCES THE GOVERNMENT IS OFTEN HARD-PRESSED TO MATCH. MR MADRAZO SAID THE INFLUENCE OF THE DRUG CARTELS HAS REACHED HIGH LEVELS OF THE GOVERNMENT, INCLUDING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE. RECENTLY, MEMBERS OF AN ELITE POLICE FORCE TRAINED IN PART BY U-S OFFICIALS WERE IMPLICATED IN AN INVESTIGATION OF SMUGGLING ACTIVITIES AT MEXICO CITY'S INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. IN SPITE OF THIS ALARMING NEWS MEXICAN OFFICIALS HAVE STRESSED THAT MOST OF THE SPECIAL POLICE UNITS FORMED TO COMBAT THE DRUG TRADE ARE CARRYING OUT THEIR DUTIES AND ARE REJECTING OPPORTUNITIES TO ENRICH THEMSELVES BY BETRAYING THEIR COUNTRY. THE PROBLEM OF CORRUPTION, HOWEVER, GOES BEYOND THE DRUG TRADE. MEXICO HAS A CULTURE OF CORRUPTION THAT DATES BACK TO COLONIAL TIMES AND HAS PROVEN RESILIENT AGAINST OFFICIAL EFFORTS TO REDUCE ITS INFLUENCE. IN A STUDY CARRIED OUT BY THE BONN-BASED TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL, MEXICO RANKED 56 IN A LIST OF 85 NATIONS RANKED IN DEGREE OF CORRUPTION. ON A SCALE IN WHICH TEN REPRESENTS NO CORRUPTION AND ZERO REPRESENTS THE WORST CORRUPTION, THE STUDY PLACED MEXICO AT THREE-POINT-THREE. THE EFFECT OF THIS CORRUPTION IS REFLECTED IN THE LOW LEVEL OF TRUST MEXICAN CITIZENS HAVE IN THEIR POLICE FORCES. THE SITUATION IS MADE WORSE BY REPORTS OF POLICEMEN INVOLVED IN THE VERY CRIMES THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO PREVENT. RECENTLY, EIGHT MEMBERS OF THE MEXICO CITY POLICE FORCE WERE ARRESTED FOR THEIR ALLEGED INVOLVEMENT IN A KIDNAPPING RING. THE OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS OF THE POLICE IS ALSO A MATTER OF CONCERN. LAST YEAR, ONE MILLION 490 CRIMES WERE REPORTED IN MEXICO BUT THESE RESULTED IN ONLY 85 THOUSAND ARRESTS. THE FIGURES SHOW THAT, FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF MEXICAN CRIMINALS, CRIME DOES PAY. (SIGNED). NEB/GF/LTD/WFR 23-Sep-98 4:19 PM EDT (2019 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .