Mexican drug cartels gaining strength in Peru

Worry spreads as their presence increases coca production, violence

12:00 AM CST on Monday, January 8, 2007

By ALFREDO CORCHADO / The Dallas Morning News

LIMA, Peru – Mexican drug cartels, once regarded mainly as couriers for South American cocaine producers, have spread their powerful tentacles deep into this Andean nation, sowing violence and nourishing the re-emergence of Shining Path guerrillas, authorities say.

Peruvian authorities suspect a Mexican cartel in the killing of a federal judge in July that shocked this nation. The allegations underscore the presence of Mexican cartels in the multibillion-dollar shadow economy in Peru, the world's second-largest producer of cocaine after neighboring Colombia.

Mexican cartels have become the most dominant drug-trafficking organizations in the hemisphere, authorities say. In his first weeks in office, Mexican President Felipe Calderón has sent thousands of troops and federal police to Michoacán state and the border city of Tijuana to confront entrenched cartels.