Latin America 3:29 am Sat October 29, 2011  Small And Isolated,
Belize Attracts Drug Traffickers  Credit Nick Miroff for NPR
Special forces troops in Belize march through jungle looking for
any sign of marijuana or drug smugglers. Drug traffickers have
become increasingly active in Belize and other small nations in
Central America.  A couple of decades ago, Colombian drug
cartels dominated smuggling operations into the United States.
In recent years, the Mexican cartels have taken over.  But
Mexico's brutal drug war over the past five years is now pushing
some of the drug trade into the smaller, weaker nations of
Central America. And the traffickers are increasingly active in
the region's least-populated and most vulnerable country,
Belize.  On a bad road near Belize's disputed border with
Guatemala, a team of eight Belizean special forces troops
rumbled through the jungle in a huge Ford F-350 pickup. The
truck was a donation from the U.S. government. But it was
Belizean soca music and dancehall tunes that w