I like her because she smiles at me and means it. ~Anonymous
Authorities in Mexico have closed 10 unregistered drug rehabilitation centers in Ciudad Juarez and say they are targeting others they believe may serve as cover or recruiting grounds for drug trafficking gangs in the border city. Ciudad Juarez is across the border from El Paso, Texas.
Gunmen have killed 28 people this month at two rehabilitation centers in the city in separate attacks that investigators blame on a bloody struggle between rival drug gangs.
Sergio Belmonte, the spokesman for the Ciudad Juarez mayor’s office, says there is evidence traffickers are recruiting members through unregulated rehabilitation centers.
Most of the closures occurred after a Sept. 2 attack that killed 18 people at a drug rehabilitation center, which was not among those closed for being unregistered.
Drug rehabilitation professionals are worried that authorities could make worse the very social problems of addiction they are continually trying to fight.
“It is dangerous to demonize these centers. If these patients are put back on the streets, they are invariably going to return to their old behaviors,” said Alonso, who works at the Ave Fenix recovery center.