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Annan says world is awash with illegal small arms Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Describing the world as being “awash with small arms,” United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday that every year an estimated $1 billion worth of these weapons are traded illicitly worldwide, exacerbating conflict, sparking refugee flows, undermining the rule of law and spawning a “culture of violence and impunity.” In his opening address to the U.N. Small Arms Review Conference, which runs from today until July 7, Annan said that “significant progress” had been made in dealing with the problem of illegal guns since a Programme of Action was endorsed by all Member States in 2001 — but important challenges remain. “The problem remains grave. In a world awash with small arms, a quarter of the estimated $4 billion annual global gun trade is believed to be illicit. Small arms are easy to buy, easy to use, easy to transport and easy to conceal. Their continued proliferation exacerbates conflict, sparks refugee flows, undermines the rule of law and spawns a culture of violence and impunity,” he said, adding: “The majority of people who die directly from conflicts worldwide — tens of thousands of lives lost each year — and hundreds of daily crime-related deaths can be traced to illicit small arms and light weapons. These weapons may be small, but they cause mass destruction.” Since the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons was adopted five years ago, nearly 140 countries have reported on its implementation, while a third of all states have made efforts to collect weapons from those not legally entitled to hold them, Annan said. Other progress included increased cooperation among and within regions to stem the flow of illicit weapons across national borders. “Clearly, much has been accomplished, and much is currently being done. Yet important challenges remain,” he said, highlighting in particular the urgent need for Member States to introduce or update legislation meeting the standards outlined in the Programme of Action. Our reader’s opinion
Paper is off balance with excessive negativity Dear A.M. Costa Rica: I have been reading many opinions showcased in A.M. From disgruntled types [”We Don’t Report Crime This Reader Claims”] about the crime in Costa Rica. I have been visiting Costa Rica for the past 12 years, and have been there with well over a few dozen different people, and sent another dozen or more down there to enjoy its pleasures, to include both the people and the country’s abundant natural delights. I recently bought some land there with the intent of spending even more time down there. Not once have I, nor have any of those with me, or sent by me, experienced any negative acts toward us. If experience is a better teacher than talk, then mine — and the multitude of others I know who have been there as well — is a view of Costa Rica that counters what you have recently been publishing. Certainly a blend of opinions is always necessary to hear, but if you are looking for negativity about anywhere, it can be found. I could tell you of many such negatives about my own hometown in North Carolina, but such would not override more coverage of its in-balance positives as a quality place to live and enjoy, something that I don’t feel is forthcoming from your A.M. Publication concerning crime and related negatives in Costa Rica. If your intent is to showcase the positives [they truly exist] over a negative effect on those who wish to visit Costa Rica, then I do believe your balance of “disgruntled to delighted” editorials is out of whack. Please feel free to pass these thoughts as a prompt to those who would enjoy the overwhelming positives that exist from visiting this beautiful country with friendly people and reasonable costs, therefore verifying their own experiences of the same. Costa Rica has so much to offer. Please don’t sell it short. Jim Folds
Greensboro, North Carolina |
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on our real estate page HERE! |
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Third news page |
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| San José,
Costa Rica, Tuesday, June 27, 2006, Vol. 6, No. 126 |
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| Intensive raid being planned at Del Rey and environs |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Law enforcement officers are about to clean up the area around the Hotel Del Rey, according to Johnny Araya, mayor of San José. The mayor is moving against the Del Rey's general geographical area because he thinks it is one of the two spots in the city where the average Costa Rican is at risk. Araya made his comments during an interview program on Radio Monumental Monday morning. He said a law enforcement task force would have moved already against the persons who frequent the Del Rey area except that Fernando Berrocal, the security minister, was hospitalized briefly. He said the other danger area for Costa Ricans is on the Paseo de la Vacas in the northwest section of town. That is an area inhabited principally by persons from the Dominican Republic. Expats and North American tourists have been complaining about the environs along Avenida 1 and Calle 9 for months. The area has been the scene of muggings and holdups, although the bulk of the crimes are not reported. Sex tourists escort women from the Del Rey to hotels along the Pedestrian Boulevard and are vulnerable to gangs of muggers. Several readers have commented on the situation, and one said that the muggers integrate themselves into the lines of people waiting for buses until a victim comes by. |
Araya said that many of
those professionals who use the Del Rey as a
place to arrange meetings for prostitution have false identity papers.
He said they are mainly Colombians, Dominicans and Haitians. He said
checking out these individuals and those vendors and others who
congregate outside the hotel, nearby casinos and bars is a priority. He said that he was to have a meeting later Monday with top police officials to plan the operation. He did not say when but sometime over the weekend is a likely time. He was meeting with officials from the Judicial Investigating Organization, the Fuerza Pública and his own Policía Municipal. He said he also would seek help from the Dirección General de Migración to handle foreigners. Immigration agents and police sometimes conduct raids that enter the first floor of the Del Rey where a casino, slot machines and two bars are located. Persons who do not have adequate identification are detained. But Araya seemed to be taking about a much more intensive operation. And he specifically wanted to target the many people who hang around the street corners. Some are said to sell drugs and others are said to pimp minors. The fact that the minister of Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública, Berrocal, will be part of the operation suggests that it is not the normal Saturday night sweep. |
| This is a screen shot of a fake Web site that smugglers used to give their firm repectability, according to the director of the Judicial Investigating Organization. |
 A.M. Costa Rica graphic
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| Two major drug export rings broken up, officials say |
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By Saray Ramírez Vindas
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Two criminal organizations that used Costa Rican locations to export cocaine to Europe have been broken up, law enforcement officials said Monday. The first, a company that shipped cocaine in potted plants involved four Costa Ricans and a Colombian, said the Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública. Some 326 kilos of cocaine were confiscated, and four more persons were arrested by Dutch police. More arrests are expected in Colombia. The second was a ring that packed cocaine into cans of palmito for shipment to Holland. Four Colombians, including one woman, and an Italian were detained in this investigation, according to the Judicial Investigating Organization. Officials displayed some of the 2,000 cans of palmito or hearts of palm that were confiscated. About 100 kilos of cocaine were confiscated. The drugs and the palmito was going to the Netherlands via Spain, officials said. The operation involving the potted plants began in November 2005. A businessman with the last names of Castro Cerdas, who lives in Guácimo, was linked to the shipments, said the Policía de Control de Drogas of the ministry. He runs the companies Maravillas Tropicales del Caribe and Agrícola Palma Real. The |
ornamental plants were
to be shipped by boat in refrigerated containers to Rotterdam. Also detained was an associate with the last names of Solís Peñaranda, officials said. In all, six raids were made Monday in San José, Heredia and Limón. A Colombian with the last names of Urriago García was detained in Cuatro Reinas de Tibás as a suspect in hiding the drugs in the plants, officials said, adding that the man had a conviction for drug trafficking in 1889. Also held was a Costa Rican with the last names of Salazar Ulate. He lives in Trinidad de Moravia. A man with the last names of Rodríguez Cordero was detained in San Isidro de Heredia on suspicion of warehousing the drugs and moving the cargo by truck. The drugs were believed to have come by sea from Colombia to Panamá where they were moved overland to Costa Rica. The individuals who were detained in the investigation of the drugs hidden in the cans of palmito were not identified by Jorge Rojas Vargas, director of the Judicial Investigating Organization. However, he did say that the individuals operated a fake company, Didusa S.A. The firm has its own Web site to give the impression that the business was involved in many other exports, including wood and furniture. |
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Fourth news page |
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| San José,
Costa Rica, Tuesday, June 27, 2006, Vol. 6, No. 126 |
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| Zocor
patent expires, and Merck drops cost By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The 20-year patent on the cholesterol-lowering drug Zocor expired Friday, opening the door to competition from cheaper, generic versions of the popular drug. But some lawmakers are accusing the drug's manufacturer of undercutting the competition. Zocor is a big money-maker — generating sales of about $4.5 billion per year for New Jersey-based drug manufacturer Merck. Seventy one-year-old Frank Wolek, who began taking Zocor after suffering a heart attack, spends $125 a month for the life-saving medication. "It's my most expensive drug that I take." But now Wolek will pay considerably less. "I think it's wonderful,” he said. And pharmaceutical analysts predict prices for Zocor could drop faster than anticipated. Albert Rauch at the investment firm A.G. Edwards says that is because Merck is trying to keep its customers by selling Zocor for less than generic versions, such as Simvastatin. "I think they could be very successful at keeping market share by lowering their price," said Rauch. Some health plans, for example, will start offering their patients Zocor for about $10 a month, compared to the generic equivalent, which costs five times more. But U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, accuses Merck of undermining the generic drug industry and wants the Federal Trade Commission to investigate. "Not only will it drive the competition out of business,” said the senator, “but they will do it on drug after drug and within a few years we won't have generic drugs anymore." But Merck, which expects to lose as much as $2 billion a year after the patent expires, says it is doing nothing wrong. Ian Spatz is Merck's vice president for public policy. "What it is, is an attempt to compete and that is what we are doing. It is a marketplace change and we were the only company selling Zocor until Friday. On Friday, there are three and we need to compete." Using generic drugs can mean big savings. According to the latest Consumer Reports, people who need medicine to lower their cholesterol can save up to $1,800 a year by switching to generic drugs. Merck wants to make sure its customers don't have to. Bird flu DNA eyed for vaccine potential By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Researchers are working on developing vaccines for bird flu before it becomes a worldwide epidemic. The University of Massachusetts Medical School has teamed with a British drug company to come up with a potential vaccine using bird flu DNA. Traditional flu vaccines use weakened flu viruses and take months to produce on a large scale. The bird flu DNA vaccine could be easily duplicated and produced in large quantities. DNA is a molecule found in a cell that contains a specific genetic blueprint. The DNA-based vaccine would be inserted using a pressurized gun that penetrates the skin without using needles. So far, it appears the bird flu virus has spread only to people who handle poultry or have eaten contaminated meat. It has killed more than 125 people worldwide, as well as large poultry flocks in Asia, Europe and Africa. Experts fear millions of people could die in the future if the virus combines with human flu strains and produces a new strain that is highly contagious to people. Dr. Shan Lu is with the University of Massachusetts Medical School. "Clearly the bird flu is spreading to more places. The question is when they will jump to humans. That is the question we don't know, but we have to prepare." Researchers are trying to figure out how the tiny organism replicates, so it can be stopped from spreading. Waterfowl and other migratory birds can tolerate the organism, secreting it as waste into ponds, lakes and rivers. But the virus becomes deadly to humans when it infects birds that live on land, particularly chickens. Right now the only way to control bird flu is to slaughter diseased poultry. | BBC news and sports |
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