Fast and Furious revisited – during the laundry, the killing continues…

In the New York times today, an article about undercover money-laundering by the DEA in Mexico. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the DEA is involved in money-laundering. This, after all, has been going on for decades in other parts of the world.

And what for? Here is the conclusion of the NYT article:

“It is not clear whether such operations are worth the risks. So far there are few signs that following the money has disrupted the cartels’ operations, and little evidence that Mexican drug traffickers are feeling any serious financial pain. Last year, the D.E.A. seized about $1 billion in cash and drug assets, while Mexico seized an estimated $26 million in money laundering investigations, a tiny fraction of the estimated $18 billion to $39 billion in drug money that flows between the countries each year.”

Considering that it is very unlikely that the next MX president, to be elected in July 2012, will follow Calderon’s harsh anti-drugs policies, 50,000 people (don’t believe the official count – most observers put the count over 50k), many innocent by-standers, will have died for nothing.

There is an alternative: check the Calderon-Santos initiative for a Global Protocol for legalization and regulation of the production, trade, and consumption of currently illicit drugs.