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Reforma newspaper reported a dramatic increase in small time drug-related crimes (narcomenudeo) in Mexico City over the last two years. In 2006, the Federal District’s Secretary of Public Security reported at least 5,000 points of sale in the capitol, while a recent report by the Federal District’s Judicial Police (PJDF) reported more than 40,000 points of sale.

Reforma reports that drug use in Mexico City has turned the capitol into a “narcomarket,” noting that the Mexico City metropolitan area is home to 40% of the nation’s drug addicts (according to a 2008 survey by the National Council on Addiction (Consejo Nacional contra las Adicciones, CONADIC).

According to Reforma, the PJDF indicates that there is a significant concentration of drug use in middle class and upscale neighborhoods of the Cuauthémoc delegation: Guerrero, Morelos, Zona Centro, Roma, Condesa, Doctores, and Juárez. According a Secretary of Health report cited by the article, 74% of addicts come from the “middle class.”

According to Reforma, while there are roughly 70,000 police officers in the Federal District, Mexico City “has turned into a zone controlled by narcomenudeo,” The same article notes that the number of minor drug possession charges filed has declined in recent years. While charges were filed against 567 and 640 small time dealers in 2007 and 2008, respectively, there have been only 144 such charges filed in the first three quarters of 2009.




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