Peru is scrutinizing Mexican tourists and businessmen on arrival as part of a government drive to combat crimes related to drug trafficking, local daily La Republica reported Monday.
According to Peruvian immigration authorities, many Mexican drug traffickers had turned to Peru to set up operation bases, the paper said.
Since 2007, the number of Mexicans entering Peru has risen suspiciously, coinciding with an upsurge in Mexico's anti-drug campaigns. At least 90 percent of the some 25,500 Mexicans who entered Peru in 2008 were on tourist visas, it added.
Mexican drug traffickers have moved part of their operations to Peru and Colombia to survive strikes launched by the Mexican government to crack down on drug trafficking and organized crime, according to the Peruvian government.
The increased scrutiny of Mexican travelers is an attempt to impede drug trafficking cartels from entering Peru, immigration authorities were quoted by La Republica as saying.
In September 2007, four Mexicans were arrested with three tons of cocaine in the Peruvian capital of Lima.
Colombia, Peru and Bolivia are the largest coca leaf producers in the world, and Mexican drug traffickers have widened their operations to Central and South America to guarantee cocaine supply.
According to the Peruvian anti-drug police, 90 percent of the total 280 tons of basic cocaine paste and pure cocaine produced each year are delivered abroad and 10 percent are consumed within the country.
The United States, Europe and Asia are the main markets for South American cocaine.
Source:Xinhua
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