Lindell wonders how he got away with his "crime" in March and not in May. "The first time [purchasing Valium] I was not arrested," he says, contending his protocol was the same. "The second time I was. They're not enforcing the laws."
Ed Schwer has worked with various U.S. law enforcement agencies for 14 years. He is currently on disability. In his mid-30s, Schwer has been a customer of Mexican pharmacies, as well as an investigator of cases involving drug purchases in Mexico. Schwer buys antibiotics and thyroid medication in Mexico for his wife regularly. When you live close to the border, it's the thing everybody does because, if you know what you're doing, it's easier and cheaper.
It was behind the fence that seperates Nogales, Sonora,
from Nogales, Arizona, that Ray Lindell found himself,
trapped like cattle-pen-like jail cell.
The prescription drug business is suffering in Nogales,
Sonora, because of all the noise Lindell's family made.
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Photography by Jackie Mercandetti
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"I've never had a single problem in 20-plus years," he says.
Based on the cases he's worked, Schwer says, people tend to have problems when they buy large quantities of drugs like muscle relaxants.
Schwer says that over the past few months, coinciding with the publicity over Lindell's arrest, people are expressing more caution about buying prescription drugs in Mexico.
He says many Americans demonstrate a lot of "attitude" when they go south to buy controlled substances.
"Some Americans behave as if [Mexicans] should be thankful they are there spending money," Schwer says. "If they break the law, they expect Mexicans to look the other way."
Or be convinced to do so for a few pesos.
Schwer says Mexican law enforcement has changed since the late '80s and early '90s when it was common to buy your way out of small offenses through a bribe, or mordida. "Law enforcement down there is more professional, there's an eagerness now [to stay on the straight and narrow]. They are paid more, trained better and taking more pride in their jobs."
Americans should not be critical of a country for enforcing its own laws, he stresses. Imagine how little sympathy authorities would have for a Mexican if he did not follow U.S. law and was discovered with the amount of narcotics that Lindell possessed.
A U.S. citizen should know that he's committing a crime in Mexico, Schwer says, when he obtains "medication that he reasonably should know is a controlled substance in the U.S." without a Mexican prescription.
Even though Burkhart and the mainstream media tried to garner sympathy for Lindell because of his age, Schwer says age has nothing to do with guilt or innocence in the United States or Mexico.
"It's ridiculous to bring that up," he says. "It doesn't matter how old he is. Lindell broke the law when it would have been easy and inexpensive to get a prescription from a Mexican doctor."
Lindell got himself jailed for nearly two months, Schwer says, over "a matter of $20."
E-mail susy.buchanan@newtimes.com, or call 602-229-8440.
