The number of US nationals caught trafficking drugs across the border has increased threefold between 2005 and 2011. That is the headline conclusion of research conducted by the California-based Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) which was published in late March. Though the report claims that these cases account for a large majority of the drug-trafficking busts, the data provided is inconclusive in this respect. Another claim — that the US Border Patrol (USBP) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have been playing down the role of US nationals — does seem proven, with caveats. The CIR researchers examined USBP and…

Mexican authorities are being forced to lift the veil on an issue that has been growing over the past six years, in tandem with the known drug-war violence: the huge number of disappeared persons, no longer seen as just another aspect of the violent actions of organised crime; but also as the product of deliberate actions by agents of the State. Christof Heyns, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, turned up on 22 April for a 10-day visit to collect information for a report he will be presenting to the United Nations’ Office of the High Commission on…