In Mexico, Life’s Daily Corruptions Reach Critical Mass

In Mexico, laws really are made to be broken.

A street vendor reserves his illegal spot on the sidewalk by paying a weekly tribute to authorities. A young man magically acquires proof that he completed compulsory military service without ever having marched a day in his life. A motorist gets a license without taking a driver’s test, or worse, even after flunking it.

And, as Times reporters proved recently, anybody can walk into a legitimate pharmacy in Mexico and buy restricted, dangerous drugs without a prescription.

You might say it’s the Mexican way of life--and of death.

The Times investigation into the illicit sale of prescription drugs from Mexico--published in three installments ending today--was triggered by the deaths of two children treated in unlicensed back-room clinics in Orange County. Though the deaths were not tied to drug reactions, my colleagues uncovered four fatalities that doctors believe were the result of catastrophic side effects of a painkiller so dangerous it’s banned in the U.S.--but readily available in Mexico and often smuggled across the border.

The medicine sold in Mexico carries no warning about potential hazards, but the package clearly states it must be sold only with a doctor’s order.

What a joke.

A Times researcher in Mexico City easily acquired such drugs over the counter at 10 pharmacies. The stuff was sold like aspirin, with no prescription and no warning of side effects. Confronted with the evidence, officials later expressed surprise.

Oh, sure. They’re shocked.

It’s hard for us in the United States to understand a country where ordinary people constantly maneuver to get around the law and often get away with it. It’s almost inconceivable that legitimate pharmacists here would risk license and livelihood to sell drugs without a prescription--because they know they’d get caught.

Corruption flourishes where the risk of exposure and punishment is low, experts agree. The code of silence covers for dirty cops in New York and New Orleans. The secrecy of an immigrant subculture cloaks the sale of banned drugs in L.A. and Orange County.

In Mexico, legal consequences are unpredictable. Accountability can be skirted with money and influence. And even the average person decides which laws are worth obeying, depending on which are deemed fair or unfair.

“Each individual becomes judge and legislator based on his own values,” said Eduardo Bohorquez of Transparencia Mexicana, a private anti-corruption group launched this month in Mexico City. The citizens group plans to propose ways for Mexicans to fight corruption and “get out of this swamp that seems to have no end.”

Corruption isn’t inherent in people, Bohorquez says. It’s in the system. He notes that Mexicans might disregard seat-belt laws in their own country, but as soon as they cross the border they buckle up.

I was raised in California and learned of “la mordida”--slang for bribe--when I first returned to the country of my birth while still in high school. It was culture shock. Imagine a teenager discovering he could order a beer at a bar and drive a car as if the vehicle code were just a list of suggestions.

In those days of stable pesos and politics, the system seemed harmless. Who wants to hassle with a ticket if you can deal with the cop on the spot? Who wants to wait for a prescription when the friendly pharmacist is happy to oblige right away?

When I returned to Mexico three years ago, I found the public’s acquiescence had turned to outrage. Every day brought shocking news about the latest round of mass police firings, of public officials forced to resign in disgrace, of courageous citizens tracing connections between kidnappers and crooked politicians.

As layers of deceit are uncovered, Mexicans have realized how thoroughly corruption rots institutions. It condones everything from the most lowly misdemeanor to murder at the highest levels of government. Even driver’s licenses aren’t accepted as ID anymore because they’re easy to fake and everybody knows it.

Corruption threatens democracy and development, declared Latin American delegates to an anti-corruption forum held earlier this month at the Carter Center in Atlanta. “It discourages investment, discriminates against the poor, and destroys public confidence in democratic government,” they concluded.

In Mexico, the evil face of corruption is finally being exposed for all to see, thanks partly to pressure from newly emboldened opposition parties. Mexicans have met the enemy and it is them.

Agustin Gurza’s column appears Tuesday and Saturday. Readers can reach Gurza at (714) 966-7712 or agustin.gurza@latimes.com.