Peru Places Mexican
Travelers Under Scanner
To Curb Drug Trafficking
LIMA - 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 Monday.
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.
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