Former Drug Czar of Mexico Charged

The former drug czar of Mexico was charged in a payoff scandal. Noe Ramires is the highest ranking official detained yet in the sweeping corruption case. Mexico accused its former drug czar of taking $450,000 from a cartel he was supposed to destroy, going public with a scandal that deals a serious blow to the country's U.S. backed drug war. He is the highest ranking law enforcement official detained yet as part of Mexico's sweeping effort to weed out officials who allegedly shared police information with violent drug smugglers. It sounds like it is a very good thing they caught him. He was going to collect similar amounts each month for alerting the drug gang to planned police operations. Isn't that something?

Even though the arrest complicates President Felipe Calderon's nationwide crackdown on the drug trade, Attorney General Eduardo Medina said it also proved the government's commitment to rooting out corruption. That commitment could be key to ensuring continued U.S. support for its drug fight. Thomas Schweich, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for international law enforcement, said the revelations suggest Mexico is aggressively dealing with its corruption problem. It is good to see Mexico working on stopping their drug problems. So far they have arrested at least five top officials and two federal agents this year as part of "Operation Clean House," which targets officials who allegedly shared information with the Pacific cartel.

Twenty-One Killed in Mexican Violence

On Thursday, a toddler died after the car he was traveling in crashed during a gun battle and a businessman was killed after leading a protest against violence. Besides that, four men were shot dead in front of a crowd at an amusement park. Within 24 hours across Mexico, 21 people died during 24 hours all together.

Mexico, which is waging a fierce battle against drug traffickers and other criminal gangs does not seem to be making much progress from the looks of it. In Ciudad Juarez, across the border from el Paso, Texas, the four men were shot inside a go-cart rental at the Xtreme amusement park Wednesday night. The park had been filled with teenagers, bicycling through obstacle courses, skating and rappelling.

So far the Police have no suspects and have not disclosed possible motives for the shootings. Elsewhere in the city, a used car salesman was shot to death while driving down a main boulevard hours after leading hundreds of other business owners in a protest against kidnappings and extortion. It looks to me like they have a great deal more to do before the violence is stopped.

Mexico Head Pledges Diaster Aid

Rescue workers are trying to help thousands of people trapped in their homes by the floodwaters. Some 70% of the state is under water in the worst floods for 50 years. On Friday the floodwaters were still rising and more rain was forecast for the weekend. The Mexican President has pledged the full support of his government to help more than a million people hit b those floods in Tabasco state. The are using helicopters and boats to move people stranded on their rooftops or pockets of high land.