UN and Mexico join forces against illegal drugs cultivation

Reports from Mexico say a leading associate of the country’s top drug dealer has been arrested.

It comes as the country has launched a joint programme with the United Nations to monitor the spread of illegal crops such as marijuana and poppy plants.

The UN says the idea is to give Mexico the benefit of its international expertise to help provide the government with reliable information.

“The main benefit of this project for the country will be to strengthen the technical capabilities of the Mexican government to generate information based on evidence with regards to the location of illegal harvest crops with higher precision, as well as to supply information to estimate the size of the crops in Mexico,” said Jeronimo Solis of the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime in Mexico City.

Drug-related violence in Mexico continues at an alarming rate. Earlier this week eight men were shot dead in a bar in an apparent dispute over dealing.

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