Argentina caught in Mexican meth trade

October 13, 2008 | 8:56 am

Facing a crackdown in Mexico, smugglers turn to Argentina as a base for importing ephedrine, which is turned into methamphetamine destined for the U.S. The trade has brought killings and intrigue, writes Patrick J. McDonnell.

The three young entrepreneurs met their contacts outside a Wal-Mart here and drove off with them, apparently convinced that they would be celebrating a lucrative new deal.

But authorities believe it was a set-up, linked to Mexican mobsters bent on reshaping the global drug trafficking map.

The three men were handcuffed, forced to kneel in the mud and sprayed with bullets; their bodies were dumped in a ditch. The execution-style slayings have sent shock waves across Argentina, which has largely been spared the drug violence seen in Colombia and Peru, the world's top cocaine producers. These killings, authorities say, were related to a more prosaic product: ephedrine, the synthetic stimulant found in cough and cold remedies. Ephedrine is also used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, the highly addictive drug long a scourge in the United States.

Officials suspect that the three men were involved with a relatively new smuggling route called the "ephedrine highway," the triangulated transport of ephedrine from Asia to Argentina to Mexico, ultimately destined for the booming U.S. meth market.

Click here for more about the drug trade, here for more about Argentina and here for more on Mexico.

Click here to read about how crystal meth is causing concern in Mexico.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City