Note to editors: Some foreign press sources need to be boiled before being fit for human consumption. A case in point:
One ton of chemicals morphs into 15 tons.
Two or three containers become "at least 24″ containers.
Industrial chemicals with a legitimate use become a Himalayan mountain range of "redneck cocaine."
File under "journalistic jumping the gun" and "bumbling shows of efficiency"?
In any event, a further instance of the Rashomon effect — aka the "Fastow gambit" — in postmodern public beancounting.
Confiscan contenedores con pseudoefedrina en Oaxaca (Milenio, Mexico): A number of news sources reported yesterday that "pseudoephedrine has been seized from containers in Oaxaca."
This was not, we now read, exactly the case. Far from it, really.
- Substance seized in Oaxaca turned out to be legal (La Jornada)
- Mexico: "Show of Efficiency Generates Phony Numbers in Marching Powder Bust" (October 18, 2007)