An alleged drug cartel leader appears on the Mexican government's 2010 teacher payroll as part of the staff of an elementary school in a rural town, according to the federal education department's website.

Payroll documents posted on the website show that checks totaling about $4,000 were issued to Servando Gomez, a reputed leader of the La Familia cartel, during the first three months of the year for teaching at Melchor Ocampo Elementary School in his hometown of Arteaga in Michoacan state.

miamiherald.com

Drug control agencies from Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan agreed Wednesday to step up cooperation to stop the flow of drugs through Afghan borders.

Russia's drug czar Viktor Ivanov said Wednesday's agreement includes the training of personnel, information exchange and joint operative measures.

newsday.com

Apologists for Mexico’s horrifically violent war against drugs ought to check out the latest cables released by WikiLeaks, which offer a sobering reality check. Just under three months ago, articles like this one from Newsweek’s Malcolm Beith took stock of the escalating violence in the country and suggested that the carnage may actually be a sign that the Mexican government, rather than losing control, is winning. This line of reasoning strikes me now, as it did then, as specious at best. Doubly so when we consider that Beith’s argument is based solely on one source—a former high-ranking government official within the Mexican establishment.

guatemala-times.com