Mexican investigators just across the Texas border have uncovered an operation that allegedly sold commercial drivers' licenses
without drivers taking the required medical exam.
According to the Associated Press, agents arrived in Nuevo Laredo, just across the border from Laredo, Texas, and started interviewing truck drivers. One investigator accompanied a local driver to the transportation office, where the driver explained that he had failed a previous medical exam, but didn't want to have to take it again. The clerk told him he wouldn't have to take the medical exam if he would pay twice as much to expedite the authorization to receive the license.
The news comes at a time when opponents of the North American Free Trade Agreement's cross-border trucking provision are criticizing the safety of Mexican trucks and truck drivers.