Gwinnett Daily Post

TORONTO -- Canada's Conservative government said the nearly $1 billion it plans to spend on security at the G-8 and G-20 summits next month is worth it.

Canada has budgeted up to $930 Canadian (US$885 million) for the summits. By comparison, the amount spent by Pittsburgh on security for last September's G-20 summit was $12.4 million. London's stated amount for the G-20 last year was US$10.9 million.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said in Parliament on Thursday the cost is expensive but ''the security is worth it.''

Jamaica: 73 killed in hunt for drug lord

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Jamaican security forces kicked down doors and arrested dozens of residents of a bullet-pocked slum on Thursday, and said the death toll from four days of fighting sparked by the search for a reputed drug lord has risen to 73.

The target of the manhunt, Christopher ''Dudus'' Coke, was nowhere to be found.

''We are still searching for Mr. Coke,'' said Deputy Police Chief Glenmore Hinds. ''Certainly we can't disclose where we are looking.''

Hinds said police and soldiers have found 73 bodies.

''The 73 bodies we're speaking about are all civilians,'' Hinds said. ''But civilians are sometimes gunmen.''

Mexican port captain jailed

MEXICO CITY -- Mexican marines have arrested the captain of a major Pacific coast port that has become a hot spot for the smuggling of methamphetamine precursor chemicals, accusing him of drug trafficking ties.

Manzanillo port Captain Jorge Arturo Castaneda was the second top official to be arrested for alleged drug links this week. On Tuesday, federal police arrested Cancun Mayor Gregorio Sanchez for allegedly protecting two violent drug cartels.

The Mexican Navy said Castaneda was arrested Wednesday in a joint operation with the organized crime unit of the federal Attorney General's Office. The statement said he was suspected of ties to organized crime but gave no details.

Navy officials said there would be no further comment, and the Attorney General's Office had no immediate information.

Castaneda was in charge of authorizing the arrival and departure of ships in Manzanillo.