Mexico: Drug Cartels Moving To Pharmacy?

Fears are being expressed in Mexico that the country's extensivenarcotic drug cartels may be planning to expand their money-laundering operations into the pharmacy arena.

Antonio Pascual Feria, head of the Valley of Mexico Pharmacists Union, believes the drug barons may be planning to establish chains of discount pharmacies for money-laundering purposes, which it is feared would lead to the closure of small neighborhood pharmacy stores.

These stores are suffering already from bona fide discount pharmacies, such as the Farmacia de Ahorro (Pharmacy Savings) chain, whose outlets in Mexico City, Toluca, Cuernavaca and Puebla offer 30% discounts on average on prescription drugs and 50% off other items.