US, Mexico crackdowns push drug cartels into Central America, where weak gov'ts cannot fight

[Judi Lynn]

US, Mexico crackdowns push drug cartels into Central America, where weak gov'ts cannot fight
KATHERINE CORCORAN
Associated Press
1:27 p.m. EDT, March 13, 2011

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — On a steamy, late-summer day near the Salvadoran coast, more than 100 police working an intelligence tip scoured a near-vacant cattle ranch the size of 42 Manhattan blocks.

Using probes and backhoes, they unearthed two plastic storage drums packed with U.S. dollars. It took three days to count the $20s, $50s and $100s — which added up to more than $10 million. A third barrel was excavated a week later from beneath a patio in an upscale San Salvador suburb, for a total of $14.5 million.

Though questions remain, the stash may be Mexican drug cartel money. One of the two Guatemalan ranch owners allegedly had ties to the leader of a Guatemalan branch of Mexico's Gulf Cartel, who is serving a 31-year sentence for drug trafficking in the U.S.

Mexican drug cartels now operate virtually uninhibited in their Central American backyard. U.S.-supported crackdowns in Mexico and Colombia have only pushed traffickers into a region where corruption is rampant, borders lack even minimal immigration control and local gangs provide a ready-made infrastructure for organized crime.

More:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-lt-salvador-obama-visit,0,3076121.story