A New Type of Surge

Staff / Truthdig Jul 20, 2009 U.S. government officials are conducting a new kind of "surge." The DEA has started dispatching agents to Afghanistan to target opium trafficking networks that are believed to be funding the Taliban insurgency, a change from the Bush-era policy of poppy crop destruction. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

A Next Step in Mexico’s Drug War

Staff / Truthdig Jul 17, 2009 In the next step of the continuing battle between the Mexican government and the country's powerful drug cartels, 5,500 police and military personnel are being sent to the state of Michoacan, where recent drug-related violence has killed 20 government security agents. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

U.S., Britain Part Company in the Poppy Fields

Staff / Truthdig Jun 29, 2009 The U.S. has decided to stop funding poppy field eradication in Afghanistan, declaring the policy a failure and a waste of money. Since 2003, opium production has gone up 40-fold in Afghanistan, making it the producer of 90 percent of the world's heroin. But Britain, backed by the Afghan government, will continue destroying poppy fields as a way to stem the drug trade. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Mexican Mayors Arrested

Staff / Truthdig May 27, 2009 Twenty-seven politicians in the western Mexican state of Michoacan were arrested by police in the largest operation to target mayors and other officials in Mexico's drug war. The politicians are suspected of collaborating with the state's powerful narco-syndicates. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

This Is the Truth on Drugs … Any Questions?

David Sirota / Truthdig Apr 3, 2009 Finally, after America has frittered away billions of taxpayer dollars arming Latin American death squads and incarcerating more of its own citizens on nonviolent drug charges than any other industrialized nation, the government is starting to re-evaluate federal narcotics policy. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

FBI Runs for the Border

Staff / Truthdig Mar 25, 2009 In a move that further militarizes a bloody drug war that left 6,300 people dead in 2008 alone, the White House is sending FBI agents and equipment to the US-Mexico border to defend against the "spillover" of drug violence The relocation of federal agents to the U Southwest follows the dispatching of thousands of Mexican soldiers to combat drug cartels earlier this year. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Mexico Militarizes Border Town

Staff / Truthdig Mar 4, 2009 The confrontation between the Mexican state and violent drug gangs is escalating, with the Mexican government moving to stomp out the bloody drug-related conflict in the border town of Ciudad Juarez. The first of some 7,000 troops have moved in to try to take control of the city. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Mexican Drug Lords Depend on Gun-Crazy America

Staff / Truthdig Feb 26, 2009 More than 6,000 people died in Mexico's drug war last year, far too many as a result of US-purchased firepower Though Mexico has strict gun laws, smugglers have no trouble legally purchasing military-grade weapons, such as AK-47 rifles, in the U, and then shipping them south of the border, where they are used with devastating effect. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Chesa Boudin on Colombia’s Civil War

BLANK Dec 26, 2008 A new book casts an illuminating spotlight on Colombia’s guerrilla war, fueled by cocaine profits and U.S. military aid. Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

Mexican Drug Wars Claim 5,000 Lives in 2008

Staff / Truthdig Dec 5, 2008 It's been a creeping tragedy that has escaped serious attention by many major media outlets, but the recurring waves of drug violence in Mexico have taken the lives of about 5,000 people in 2008. In response, the Mexican government has deployed more than 40,000 troops, though corruption within the state's security forces remains a grave problem. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

U.S. Puts Fresh Cash Into the Drug War

Staff / Truthdig Dec 4, 2008 While the rest of the world has been preoccupied with a financial meltdown, a handful of wars and a terrorist attack or two, Mexico has been waging war on its homegrown drug industry, and the death count is mounting. U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza announced that El Norte is sending a couple hundred million down south to aid the cause. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Bolivia Puts DEA on Hold

Staff / Truthdig Nov 2, 2008 Bolivian President Evo Morales on Saturday made another move to signal his administration's displeasure with the United States, announcing that he is "indefinitely" halting all activities of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency within his country. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )