After Four Decades, Mexico Marines to Regain Control of Country’s Ports Parker Asmann - InSight Crime
go to original June 17, 2017

Mexico's Marines to head up port security (Berenice Fregoso/El Universal)

Mexico's Marines will regain control of the country's 103 ports today, after a hiatus of 41 years. The move is a worrying sign that ports are out of control, but militarization has yet to become a panacea for any of this country's organized crime issues.

Among other things, the Navy Secretariat (La Secretaría de Marina - SEMAR) will assume all security functions of the ports, while the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes - SCT) will be in charge of all economic aspects.

In addition to maritime and port security, SEMAR will also authorize the arrival and departure of vessels, and inspect and certify Mexican and foreign vessels.



The Marines assumed control of the ports after their creation in 1821 and maintained that control until 1977 when Mexican President José López Portillo reformed the Organic Law of Public Federal Administration (Ley Orgánica de la Administración Pública Federal), which put the SCT in charge of the construction of port infrastructure, its administration, operation and security.

That was upended again in 2016, when Mexico's Senate approved reforms allowing the Navy to take back control of the country's ports and reconfigure efforts between SEMAR and the SCT to "reinforce security in the country's ports and coasts," Proceso reported.

The decision by the government seems to obey two trends: 1) the ports are sieves through which all measures of contraband, drugs and weapons pass; 2) the Marines have become one of the most trustworthy institutions fighting criminal groups.

In the Navy's absence, Mexico's ports have become an increasingly attractive place for organized crime groups and their illegal activities.

Read the rest at InSight Crime

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