A man gets shot and killed in a drug raid and a young woman dies after trying to hide drugs inside her body. They are the 43rd and 44th persons to die in US domestic drug enforcement operations so far this year.
CONPACCP members in the coca fields (photo by the author)
The new Humala government in Peru sought coca grower support by promising to end forced eradication, and now the growers are holding the government to its word.
Drug prohibition kills cops. At the least, seven more died of drug prohibition last year. There are measures we could take to reduce the toll, but that takes political courage -- and getting the cops on board.
It's only mid-March, but 19 people, including two law enforcement officers, have already died in drug enforcement-related incidents this year. The latest deaths came last Wednesday in Houston and Tulsa.
The year's second death during a drug law enforcement operation occurred Tuesday in Corpus Christi. Police said it was a suicide, but some local observers are assuming the worst.
In early preparations for the World Cup and the Olympics, authorities in Rio de Janeiro are trying to run the drug gangs out of the shantytowns. The drug gangs aren't going without a fight.