Mexico: The 15-ton Drug Bust That Wasn't

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)

See also

• Mexico: "Show of Efficiency Generates Phony Numbers in Marching Powder Bust" (October 18, 2007)