Peru places Mexican travelers under scanner to curb drug trafficking
16/12/2008 17:13
Peru is scrutinizing Mexican tourists and businessmen on arrival as part
of a government drive to combat crimes related to drug trafficking, local daily
La Republica reported yesterday.
According to Peruvian immigration
authorities, many Mexican drug traffickers had turned to Peru to set up
operation bases, the paper said.
Since 2007, the number of Mexicans entering
Peru has risen suspiciously, coinciding with an upsurge in Mexico's anti-drug
campaigns. At least 90 percent of the some 25,500 Mexicans who entered Peru in
2008 were on tourist visas, it added.
Mexican drug traffickers have moved
part of their operations to Peru and Colombia to survive strikes launched by the
Mexican government to crack down on drug trafficking and organized crime,
according to the Peruvian government.
The increased scrutiny of Mexican
travelers is an attempt to impede drug trafficking cartels from entering Peru,
immigration authorities were quoted by La Republica as saying.
In September
2007, four Mexicans were arrested with three tons of cocaine in the Peruvian
capital of Lima.
Colombia, Peru and Bolivia are the largest coca leaf
producers in the world, and Mexican drug traffickers have widened their
operations to Central and South America to guarantee cocaine
supply.
According to the Peruvian anti-drug police, 90 percent of the total
280 tons of basic cocaine paste and pure cocaine produced each year are
delivered abroad and 10 percent are consumed within the country.
The United
States, Europe and Asia are the main markets for South American
cocaine.
Xinhua
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