Mexico Drug Cartels

Mexican President Calderon says crackdown against drug cartels to continue - Mexican President Calderon says crackdown against drug cartels to continue

The Associated Press

Monday, September 10, 2007

NEW DELHI: Mexican President Felipe Calderon said Monday his administration will continue its crackdown against drug cartels until the country is free of trafficking and the violence caused by it.

"We have just started. My goal is to make Mexico a country of law," Calderon told a gathering of business executives in New Delhi.

The Mexican leader arrived in India on Monday for a two-day visit to strengthen economic and political ties between the two countries.

Mexico has struggled for years with drug-related violence that has left thousands dead throughout the country, especially in places like northern Sinaloa state, home to the Sinaloa drug cartel.

Shortly after he took office in December, Calderon sent thousands of soldiers into several states plagued by drug trafficking-related violence to battle the criminals.

More than 1,000 people, including several gang leaders, have since been arrested or detained in connection with drug-related violence, he said.

In March, police found US$207 million (EUR150.05 million) in the largest ever drug-related seizure from the house of a Chinese-Mexican businessman in Mexico City.

Calderon said Monday that more than 50 percent of Mexicans polled in a survey a year ago saw crime and public safety as the main problems confronting the Mexican government. "Today, only 30 percent share that perception," he said, without giving further details.