Weekly Report - 10 January 2006

Nobody in officialdom, on either side of the border, appears willing to go on the record about the thorny issue of how many deserters from the military have been recruited by Mexico's warring drug cartels. When a US newspaper hyped up off-the-record comments on Mexico's vulnerability in this area, the Mexican presidency dodged the issue, referring enquirers to the military. These did respond in due course - anonymously.