Whack-A-Mole in International Drug Traffic
Reputed Cocaine Boss Arrested in Colombia Diego Montoya, on FBI's Most Wanted List, to Be Extradited to U.S., Officials Say
By Juan Forero Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, September 11, 2007; A13
BOGOTA, Colombia, Sept. 10 -- A reputed cocaine kingpin who is on the FBI's Most Wanted list was captured Monday in an army operation that government officials hailed as a major blow against drug trafficking in this Andean country.
A special forces unit, working with federal prosecutors, arrested Diego Montoya at a farm in the Norte del Valle, a region of mountains and hamlets that is home to the drug cartel of the same name. Montoya, who American officials say has trafficked hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States and Europe, will be extradited to Miami, according to Colombian and U.S. officials.
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Which will do not a thing in reducing cocaine shipments, but simply elevate the next guy in the organization to the top.
C'mon, folks--this is as un-winnable a war as Iraq and for very nearly the same reasons, a misdirected and fruitless battle against the entrenched desires of society. We like drugs. We will pay whatever the cost is of our desire, just as we like to be fat, like to be entertained and like to be left the hell alone while engaging in these engaging activities.
As in other matters where the self-appointed arbiters of American morals have got their fingers wedged tightly in our eye, the loser is the 3rd world farmer, those caught in the crossfire of drug wars, the massive corruption of our and other (with the emphasis on other) societies and the mockery of the self-appointed by the self-medicated.
This 30-years-war takes and takes and takes, giving nothing in return.
* For more in-depth articles by Jim on Taking My Country Personally, check out Opinion-Columns.com