MEXICO'S DRUG WAR BECOMES CANADIAN SECURITY ISSUE

Mexico's war on the drug cartels has become a national security issue
for Canada, say Ottawa officials, as the violent backlash from the
syndicates spills across the border into Canada and the U.S.

Security agencies, including the RCMP, the Canadian Security
Intelligence Service, and the Integrated Threat Assessment Centre,
are concerned an organized-crime problem could turn into a
full-fledged national security threat.

One official, who asked to speak anonymously, explained that "it's
all part of this river of drugs - and we're one of the subsidiary streams.

"It's going to impact on us," he said, adding the issue "does receive
national attention."

This week, the RCMP publicly described a series of B.C. gang murders
as a Canadian echo of the bloody feuds among the Mexican drug
cartels, notorious for beheading their enemies and bribing corrupt
local officials.

President Felipe Calderon's aggressive offensive against these
criminal syndicates has unleashed the worst violence the country has
ever seen as the cartels battle one another for turf and power. More
than 6,000 people were killed in drug-related violence last year.

Canada's interest in the drug war also reflects, in part,
intensifying U.S. concern, as the Drug Enforcement Administration
steps up to assist Mexican authorities, and Washington acknowledges
for the first time the U.S.'s role in the illicit transnational trade.

"Drug trafficking and related violence is a North American problem
and we all - Canada, the U.S., and Mexico - need to work together to
solve it," said Keith Mines, the narcotics affairs director at the
U.S. embassy in Mexico. "Mexico is the supplier and North America is
the market for most of the drugs."

The $400-million (U.S.) Merida anti-narcotics assistance program will
help train Mexican police and fund the installation of more
sophisticated surveillance systems at the border.

In Canada and the U.S., local distributors are already feeling the
impact, as a dramatically reduced supply of drugs is getting through
the Mexico-U.S. border, sending prices soaring.

Mexico is the major transit country for drugs reaching Canada and the
U.S. and a large source of heroin, marijuana, methamphetamines and
cocaine. But gangs in the North also play a key role in distribution and sales.

"These are transnational organizations that make billions of dollars
and not everyone is a Mexican," said Armand Peschard-Sverdrup, a
Mexico specialist and the president of a consulting group. "There are
biker gangs, the Russian mafia, inner-city gangs in the U.S., Asian
mafia in Vancouver and Central Americans."

Last year, Mexican authorities arrested 26,947 people, including
several key members of the Arellano Felix cartel, and 264 foreigners.
Officials seized 19 tonnes of cocaine, 192 kg. of heroin, 341 kg. of
methamphetamines, according to the 2009 International Narcotics
Control Strategy Report. Mexico's criminal gangs are fighting amongst
themselves for diminishing profits, and erratic subordinates are
taking over, employing gruesome methods.

The Mexican government has sent the army into border cities such as
Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana and seized nearly 40,000 illegal firearms,
most of which came into Mexico from the U.S.

The drug war is destabilizing the three partners in the North
American free-trade agreement in other ways. Mexico has been Canada's
number one source country for asylum seekers for the past three
years, with some applicants now claiming their country can no longer
keep them safe from drug traffickers. During the past two years
alone, 15,000 Mexican refugee claimants have arrived in Canada -
though the acceptance rate is only 11 per cent.

Canadian officials also worry that as Washington reinforces its
southern flank, it may feel obliged to increase security on the
northern frontier - if only to convince U.S. Latinos of
evenhandedness - which could have an adverse affect on trade.

Where the violence happens

Drug wars between rival gangs have killed thousands in Mexico, and
border officials say the "river of drugs" is a serious
national-security risk for the United States and Canada.

DRUG SEIZURES

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Cocaine HCI* 30 12 21 27 30 21 48 19

Cannabis* 1,839 1,633 2,248 2,208 1,786 1,902 2,194 1,650

Heroin 269 282 306 302 459 351 298 192

Methamphetamine 400 457 751 951 979 753 932 341

*Metric tonnes kilogram

THE GLOBE AND MAIL // SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS, U.S. STATE
DEPARTMENT, INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL AND STRATEGY REPORT 2008