U.S., Mexico Work To Curb Violent Border Cartels

In a Conference call later today, Department of Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano, Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg and United States Deputy Attorney General David Ogden will lay out the Administration’s comprehensive response to the situation along the border with Mexico.

The Conference Call will be at 2: 00 PM ET (11:00 PT).  To receive call-in information, e-mail [email protected]

President Obama and his Administration are focused on all aspects of the U.S. relationship with Mexico because it is vital to core U.S. national interests.

The President is concerned by the increased level of violence, particularly in Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana, and the impact that it is having on the communities on both sides of the border.  He believes that the United States must continue to monitor the situation and guard against spillover into the United States. And the President is firmly committed to ensuring our borders are secure and we are doing all we can to reduce illegal flows in both direction across the border.

The administration is taking steps on both sides of the border, working with our Mexican partners, to support the Mexican government’s campaign against the violent cartels and to reduce contraband in both directions across the border.

Under the Merida Initiative, the administration is investing $700 million this year to work in collaboration with Mexico on law enforcement and judicial capacity.

o   DOJ, DHS, and Treasury are all ramping up personnel and efforts directed at the Southwest border.

o   We are renewing our commitment to reduce the demand for illegal drugs here at home.

The President admires President Calderon’s courage and determination to confront and dismantle the drug cartels and we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him in that fight.  Mexico undoubtedly faces serious challenges, but it is vigorously confronting them.   Mexico’s drug-related violence is carried out among the warring cartels and against government forces.  To the extent we have seen related violence in the United States it has been cartel-on-cartel.

Because this effort has so many facets, the U.S.-Mexico relationship and our efforts to help address the increase in violence in Mexico are being coordinated at the White House through the NSC and HSC.

We are investing $700 million this year in enhancing Mexican law enforcement and judicial capacity and working closely to coordinate our efforts against the cartels.

*   Congress has appropriated (FY08 Supp, FY09 Omnibus) $700 million to support Mexico’s security and institution building efforts under the Merida Initiative. These funds will help to improve law enforcement, crime prevention and strengthen institution building and rule of law.  That money will provide:

*   Increased capacity for Mexican border security efforts to help stem illegal flows in both directions across the border;

*   Non-intrusive inspection technology to enhance Mexican interdiction efforts;

*   Training for rule of law and judicial reform efforts;

*   Information technology to enable Mexican prosecutors, law enforcement, and immigration officials to communicate securely;

*   5 helicopters to increase air mobility for the Mexican Army and Air Force, and a surveillance aircraft for the Mexican Navy.

*   Support and training for implementation of Mexico’s new legal system and to strengthen observance of human rights by judicial authorities and police; and

*   Help for Mexican prosecutors’ offices to develop an effective witness and victim protection programs.

*         DoD has been and is continuing to work with its Mexican counterparts to increase information sharing, interoperability, and training and equipping of counternarcotics forces.

*         The Administration is committed to working with Congress to ensure that we fully fund our commitments under the Merida Initiative.

*         We are also coordinating our efforts with the Mexican government through regular high-level contact and at a working level with nine Merida Initiative working groups overseeing implementation.

We are moving to more effectively disrupt illegal flows of weapons and bulk cash to Mexico and to ensure that our border security remains resistant to the flow of drugs and violence into the United States.

*   DHS is developing a plan to supplement resources on the southwest border that includes the following elements:

*   Doubling Border Enforcement Security Task Forces (BEST) teams that incorporate foreign, federal and state/local law enforcement and intelligence officers

*   Tripling DHS Intelligence Analysts working along the Southwest Border

*   Increasing ICE attaché staff in Mexico in support of Mexican law enforcement efforts

*   Doubling Violent Criminal Alien teams located in Southwest Border Field Offices

*   Quadrupling the number of Border Liaison Officers  working with Mexican law enforcement entities

*   Bolstering Secure Communities Biometric Identification capabilities

*   Increasing southbound rail examinations

*   Enhancing the use of technology at ports of entry, including backscatter mobile x-ray

*  Increasing the number of canine units operating on the SW Border

*   Increasing engagement with state and local Southwest border law enforcement

*   Making up to $59 million in current Operation Stonegarden funding available to enhance state, local and tribal law enforcement operations and assets along the border

*   Increasing the use of mobile license plate readers for Southbound traffic on the SW Border

*  DHS is also continuing Armas Cruzadas – A DHS/ICE-led bilateral law enforcement and intelligence-sharing operation to thwart export of arms from US into Mexico

*   DOJ is confronting the criminal enterprises responsible for violence in Mexico and trafficking drugs, illegal arms and bulk cash across the Southwest border.

The Mexican Cartel Strategy,  led by the Deputy Attorney General, is

–         Working with federal prosecutor-led task forces that bring together all DOJ and DHS law enforcement components to identify, disrupt and dismantle the Mexican drug cartels through investigation, prosecution, and extradition of their key leaders and facilitators, and seizure and forfeiture of their assets;

–        Increasing focus on investigations and prosecutions of the southbound smuggling of guns and cash that fuel the violence and corruption;

–        Addressing any instances of spill-over violence into the U.S.; and

–         Attacking the cartels in Mexico itself, in partnership with Mexico’s PGR and SSP.

* DEA is increasing its efforts:

·         Placing 16 new positions in its Southwest border field divisions (29% of DEA’s domestic agent positions (1,171 agents) are now allocated to the DEA’s Southwest border field divisions.