Annual Drug Report Praises Mexico, Chides Venezuela

Mexico remains a major drug production and transit route but is making progress against cartels and gangs, concludes the U.S. State Department in its annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report.

Reuters reported Feb. 27 that the report named 20 countries with major drug trafficking problems, including Afghanistan, Mexico, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Venezuela, Myanmar and Bolivia were singled out as having failed to comply with international anti-drug accords.

The U.S. was among 60 nations that had financial institutions involved in money laundering for drug cartels, the report said.

The State Department credited the government of Mexican President Felipe Calderon for success in fighting the country’s violent drug gangs, saying that Mexico’s cartels were “fighting among themselves for now diminishing profits” as a result.

“The restructuring of security forces, coupled with the military’s strong engagement in the fight to dismantle major drug trafficking organizations, has proven to be effective,” the report said. “These efforts led to numerous arrests of key narcotraffickers, the discovery of clandestine drug laboratories, and a dramatic decline in the importation of methamphetamine … into the United States.”