Pubdate: Sun, 21 Dec 2008 Source: Dallas Morning News (TX) Copyright: 2008 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/cgi-bin/lettertoed.cgi Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117 A SOBERING LOOK AT THE DRUG WAR Military's Museum Delves into a History With Few High Points MEXICO CITY - Museums are cultural repositories, but not every aspect of culture is glorious. Which is why, hidden from the public, there is an institution here devoted to Mexico's dark side, the Museo de los Enervantes - Museum of Drugs. It's a place that leaves those who manage to get inside shaking their heads and lamenting the long and spirited but largely unsuccessful war this country has waged to control narcotics. You Need a Connection The Museo de los Enervantes is run by the Mexican military and open only to graduating cadets and select guests. The museum could not be more secure; it's on the top floor of the Defense Ministry. Maj. Mario Ayala Lopez insisted that his face not be photographed, an atypical request for a museum curator, but a reality in present-day Mexico, where the drug violence knows no bounds. First, the Heroes A shrine at the museum entrance features the names of 570 Mexican soldiers who died fighting illegal drugs as far back as 1976. In the last two years, since President Felipe Calderon has sent soldiers on more anti-drug missions than any of his predecessors, 67 names have been added to the list. Past and Present One room is devoted to the ancient roots of drug use in Mesoamerica, like the use of hallucinogenic peyote and mushrooms by the Maya and Aztecs. There's also real-life samples under glass - including heroin; methamphetamines, which are manufactured in huge quantities in Mexican laboratories; and marijuana, grown in fields hidden in the countryside. Cultivating the Crime Along the halls, a farmworker mannequin is propped up under a tree with a rifle in his hands, guarding a field of poppies and marijuana. Around his neck is a pendant of Jesus Malverde, the patron saint of outlaws. In a display case are notes that soldiers have recovered in raids on fields, pleas from the farmers to the soldiers to leave them alone in exchange for a little cash. Tricks of the Trade Getting the drugs to the world's biggest market, the United States, requires ingenuity, and there is an entire room devoted to that. On display are drug-filled shoes and beer crates, and a doughnut sprinkled with poppy seeds that would be used to make heroin. So is a doll that was stuffed with drugs and then given to a child to carry. A model of a woman has a protruding stomach, not from pregnancy, but from several pounds of tightly wrapped cocaine. A Nod to the Bosses Toward the end of the tour, the museum introduces those who have turned Mexico into a prime trafficking country. There is a gold-encrusted cellphone recovered from Daniel Perez Rojas, a founder of the Zetas paramilitary group. A Colt pistol recovered from Alfredo Beltra Leyva, a leader of the feared Sinaloa cartel who was arrested in January, bears the oft-repeated revolutionary quotation, "I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees." Another Colt pistol, encrusted with emeralds, once belonged to Joaquin Guzman Loera, probably the most wanted trafficker of all. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake