Whack-a-mole: US law enforcement role in Mexico drug war surges

US law enforcement role in Mexico drug war surges - chicagotribune.com: "Samuel Gonzalez, Mexico's former top anti-drug prosecutor, said U.S. agents, who typically require judicial authority to eavesdrop in the U.S., are not restricted by those laws in Mexico, provided they are not on U.S. territory and those they are bugging are not American.

'Simply put, they can hear all the conversations they want without respecting the privacy of individuals, as long as they are not (listening to) Americans,' Gonzalez said.

The U.S. has also sent eight helicopters and 78 drug sniffing dogs, as well as 318 polygraph units to screen Mexico's law enforcement applicants for corruption. U.S. agents taught their counterparts to use the machinery.

U.S. experts also have taught hundreds of attorneys to argue in open courtrooms, judges to hear cases, and more than 6,700 soldiers and police to use proper interrogation techniques and technology.

At the same time, more Mexican agents work with the FBI, DEA and other agencies in the U.S. And in an unusual move, the ATF recently invited Mexican investigators to attend a U.S. interrogation of suspected gun traffickers."