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Mexican drug lord says cartels invincible
The right-hand man of Mexico's most notorious drug boss says the country's war on the trade is futile.Ismael "el Mayo" Zambada, the right-hand man of Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, said in an interview the illicit business would never be brought down because millions of people were involved. Zambada says the supply of drugs will continue even if cartel bosses are caught or killed. He blamed the government for surging drug violence and said president Felipe Calderon was being duped by his advisers into thinking he was making progress. "One day I will decide to turn myself in to the government so they can shoot me ... they will shoot me and euphoria will break out. But at the end of days we'll all know that nothing changed," Zambada told the investigative news magazine Proceso. "Millions of people are wrapped up in the narco problem. How can they be overcome? For all the bosses jailed, dead or extradited their replacements are already there." Mounting drug violence in Mexico has killed 19,500 people since Mr Calderon launched an army-led attempt to crush the cartels after taking power in 2006. Arturo Beltran Leyva, a former ally turned rival of the Sinaloa cartel, died in a hail of gunfire in December as Mexican marines surrounded him in a luxury apartment complex. Analysts at the time hailed his death as a blow against the cartels, but the past three months in Mexico have been the most violent of Mr Calderon's rule with around 2,800 drug murders, including a rash of killings of children. Proceso, an influential magazine with a strong history of covering the drug war, said Zambada contacted it directly in February to set up an interview because he was interested in meeting Julio Scherer, the magazine's founder. Zambada, 62, one of Mexico's most wanted drug lords, has never been arrested despite a $5 million reward offered in the United States. Posted by: lotp 2010-04-05 |
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