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 News from Around the Americas | July 2006 
Peru Drugs Trial Judge Shot Dead
 BBC News
| | The judge had been trying alleged members of the Tijuana cartel. |
A Peruvian judge prosecuting several suspected members of a drug-trafficking gang linked to the Mexican mafia has been shot dead at a restaurant in Lima.
Judge Hernan Saturno Vergara is said to have been killed by a single gunman.
The judge's cousin, a lawyer who was dining with him, was hurt in the attack and is receiving medical treatment.
The judge had been handling the trial of alleged members of the Mexico-based Tijuana cartel, regarded by the US as a major cocaine-trafficking organisation.
Peru is the world's second-largest producer of cocaine, after Colombia.
Officials believe Mexican cartels have become major players in the transfer of large cocaine shipments from Peru to the US.
Judge Vergara was one of three judges trying 25 people who were arrested in 2002 on charges of working with the Tijuana cartel.
He had been assigned a bodyguard but had reportedly dismissed him for the evening when he was shot dead.
Peru's Justice Minister, Alejandro Tudela, described the killing as "a threat and a challenge to all Peruvians", the Associated Press news agency reports.
Peru Seizes Alleged Drugs Kingpin
BBC News
Police in Peru have arrested a former airline owner whom the United States accuses of being a "drugs kingpin".
Fernando Zevallos is suspected of cocaine trafficking, murder and witness tampering, Peru's state attorney for drugs crimes told Associated Press.
He is already being tried in Peru over an attempted shipment of cocaine to Mexico in 1995, which was foiled.
He maintains his innocence, reportedly saying he was the victim of abuse of authority as he was taken into custody.
Peruvian television showed him being led handcuffed into the headquarters of the police anti-drugs unit on Saturday.
Informant
Mr Zevallos was placed on a US list of suspected drugs traffickers in June of last year.
His US assets and those of his airline, Aero Continente, were frozen, leading to its collapse.
Under US legislation, people placed on the US list of drug traffickers and their businesses are denied access to the American financial system.
Mr Zevallos has previously been accused of trafficking cocaine, laundering money, tampering with witnesses and ordering murder, but has never been convicted.
The latest arrest appears to be linked to the trial of drugs trafficker Jorge Chavez, reportedly an enforcer for Mr Zevallos.
Peru to Tolerate Coca Cultivation
BBC News
The Peruvian government has said it will allow limited cultivation of coca despite earlier opposition.
It had threatened legal action after a regional authority in the Andes issued a by-law lifting curbs on the growth of coca, the raw ingredient in cocaine.
The government backed down after the governor of Cuzco said the new by-law would affect one valley and not the whole region.
Farmers want to cultivate coca for its traditional uses as a medicine and tea.
Cuzco governor Carlos Cuaresma said the by-law had originally been misinterpreted by the government, which thought it affected the whole region.
'Matter resolved'
Following a meeting with Mr Cuaresma, Peruvian Prime Minister Carlos Ferrero said the matter had now been resolved.
Coca growers or 'cocaleros' have recently stepped up their protests against the restrictions imposed on their livelihood.
They say coca is an integral part of life in the Andes, where it is often taken as a traditional remedy to stave off hunger and altitude sickness.
Mr Cuaresma acknowledged that the decision to legalise coca production was a concession to Cuzco's increasingly militant growers.
The government had earlier said that the new by-law was an attempt to legalise a product that increasingly ends up in the hands of the cocaine dealers.
Despite efforts to outlaw the planting of new crops, coca cultivation continues to expand in the Peruvian highlands.
The UN has blamed the increase on the crackdown on coca production in Colombia, which it says has fuelled production in Bolivia and Peru.
The decision to legalise coca production in Cuzco has put Peru in a sticky position, says the BBC's Americas editor Paul Keller.
If it does nothing, he says, other coca-growing regions could follow suit and thereby greatly increase coca output.
The head of the country's anti-drug agency says such a trend could transform Peru overnight into a "narcostate".
But taking action against Cuzco also has its risks.
Mr Cuaresma has said he "wouldn't be responsible" for the consequences if the government tried to overturn the law, hinting that Cuzco could press for regional autonomy.
Mr Chavez pleaded guilty to drugs charges in Miami 10 years ago and became an undercover informant, AP reports.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration says it has launched more than 30 investigations into Mr Zevallos.
He insists he is the victim of character assassination, overzealous US drug agents and business rivals. |
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