The World - News from April 7, 1989

Mexican authorities arrested 33 drug traffickers and seized more than a ton of drugs in the first 24 hours of a 45-day operation to stem the flow of narcotics across the U.S.-Mexican border. Rene Hernandez, a spokesman for the Mexican attorney general’s office, said that Mexican judicial officers confiscated a total of 3,011 pounds of marijuana, cocaine and raw opium. Hernandez denied allegations that the crackdown was the result of pressure from the United States. “We are fighting the drug trade first to protect the health of Mexicans, and secondly to fulfill our international responsibilities against drug trafficking,” he said.