Mexico Trucker Online

MARÍN, Mexico — The last time Americans proficient in weapons came here, they sacked the town. Héctor Cantú, the mayor 161 years later, is ready to forgive that old grudge from the Mexican-American War, and welcome some arms experts back.

Like most small-town police departments around Mexico, his embattled police force is badly outgunned by vicious drug gangs. Like many in the border state of Nuevo León, it is understaffed because some of its officers were arrested on charges of collusion with narcos.

Cantú will take any help he can get.

“As long as it goes through the proper channels,” said Cantú, referring to possible U.S. anti-drug aid, “then it’s welcome.”

The Bush administration is preparing a major crime-fighting package to send Mexico, say lawmakers in both countries. And from the shiny metropolis of Monterrey to ranch towns like Marín, local police are looking forward to that aid.

The historic deal could include hundreds of millions of dollars in intelligence technology and training for police, prosecutors and judges, said legislators and officials.

That Mexico appears willing to lay aside its traditional hesitation about welcoming such help speaks volumes about the extent of security troubles south of the border.

Mexican public opinion’s long-standing aversion to U.S. meddling in its affairs was cemented by the 1846 war in which the country lost half its territory to its northern neighbor.

“This is a historic policy shift on the Mexican side,” said U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.

“This is for our own self-interest,” he added. “Helping Mexico will help us address those issues that spill over to the U.S. side.”

Some 5,000 people have died in Mexico’s drug war in the past three years. President Felipe Calderón mobilized thousands of troops since taking office last year and the government claims credit for a downturn in violence in some parts of Mexico.

Mexico’s ambassador in Washington famously called U.S. help in the drug war “zilch” earlier this year. Like previous Mexican presidents, Calderónhas blamed American drug consumers for Mexico’s drug-trafficking woes, but has courted U.S. favor by speeding the extradition of alleged drug kingpins to the United States for trial.

Overcoming a historic aversion to cooperation may be less of a challenge than fixing Mexico’s dysfunctional law enforcement system.

“Any exchange with the United States, if there is not a profound change in the system of public security in Mexico … if there’s not a police reform, will amount to nothing,” said Gustavo Fondevila, a specialist on crime issues at CIDE, a Mexico City university.

There are some 2,000 municipal police forces in Mexico, and each has constitutionally mandated independence. Though they are not responsible for crime investigation, they can hinder state or federal probes, as Nuevo León authorities alleged after arresting some 150 officers earlier this year.

Marín’s police force is an example of another kind of problem throughout Mexico. Officers are poorly paid, poorly trained and get piecemeal support from state authorities.

“The most important thing is (training in) arms handling,” said Cantú, the mayor.

The economy cars and dirt bikes in which Marín police officers patrol are in sharp contrast to the Dodge Chargers and powerful motorcycles of the police of San Pedro Garza García, a rich Monterrey suburb.

Its cops have the latest in body armor and weaponry and earn about $1,200 per month, about three times the national average. Some officers received training in Plano. Its chief, Rogelio Lozano, maintains close contact with U.S. law enforcement agents at the consulate in Monterrey.

But what was once considered Mexico’s premier city police department is now “in time of crisis,” Lozano said.

His predecessor was killed last year under shady circumstances. An elite SWAT team had to be disbanded, with ex-members turning up dead or being arrested. The force hit a low point this year when assailants fired a rocket-propelled grenade — it failed to explode — at headquarters and the army had to come in to provide protection.

Between purges and resignations, San Pedro’s police force has been reduced from 550 officers to less than 300 and recruitment is way down.

Last year, the police force dismantled some 50 drug distribution operations but the arresting officers were too afraid for their own personal safety to testify against the people they caught, Lozano said.