U.S. - Mexico at a Glance

The MERIDA Initiative

Since President Calderon took office two years ago, Mexico has taken decisive action to fight drug trafficking and criminal organizations. Following a request from President Bush in late autumn of 2007, the U.S. Congress passed the Merida Initiative with wide bi-partisan support. President Bush signed the Merida Initiative into law on June 30, 2008.

Acknowledging the shared responsibility of the United States and Mexico to combat international drug trafficking and related violence, the Merida Initiative is a historic program of cooperation to counter the drug-fueled criminal organizations that operate without regard to borders and that threaten the security of the citizens of both our countries. In this first stage of a multi-year program, the Merida Initiative will provide $400 million to Mexico and $65 million to Central America and the Caribbean.

Funding in this first stage of the Merida Initiative will provide:

• Helicopters and surveillance aircraft to support interdiction and rapid response of Mexican law enforcement agencies.
• Non-intrusive inspection equipment, ion scanners, and canine units for Mexican customs, the new Mexican federal police and the military to interdict trafficked drugs, arms, cash and persons.
• Technologies and secure communications systems to improve data collection and storage, thereby ensuring that vital information is accessible to law enforcement agencies.
• Technical advice and training to strengthen the institutions of justice: to improve vetting for the new Mexican police force; to provide case management software to track investigations through the legal process; to support offices of citizen complaint and professional responsibility; and to promote the establishment of witness protection programs.
  

Presidents Bush and Calderon at a press conference in Merida, Mexico. March 14, 2007.

EXTRADITIONS

The USG is working closely with Mexican counterparts to make effective use of our bilateral extradition treaty and other legal mechanisms in order to ensure that our shared border does not serve as a barrier behind which fugitives from justice may flee, find safe haven, and continue to commit crimes.

The overwhelming majority of fugitives extradited by Mexico are wanted in the U.S. for the most serious crimes, including murder, rape, sexual offenses against children, kidnapping, and drug trafficking. Most of the fugitives returned to the U.S. by extradition are Mexican citizens.

Aside from extraditions, Mexican immigration authorities, in cooperation with U.S. law enforcement agencies, have been aggressively making use of Mexican immigration laws to deport non-Mexican fugitives to the United States. Since 2005, Mexico has deported between 150 and 200 fugitives to face justice in the U.S.

Major Counter-Drug Initiatives

A primary mission of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Mexico is to assist with the identification, disruption and dismantlement of the command and control elements of the illicit narcotics, chemicals, and money laundering organizations. Through enhanced cooperation with DEA, Mexican counterparts have tackled many complex multinational investigations with very successful results:

• In FY 2007, DEA Mexico offices reported the seizure by Mexican law enforcement and military of a record-breaking $297,059,296.00 dollars in revenue denied to traffickers. This amount represented the value of seized drugs, currency, vehicles, aircraft, property, and other assets.
• In January 2007—less than 2 months after President Calderon’s inauguration—Mexico extradited four major drug traffickers to the United States, one being the leader of the notorious Gulf Cartel, Osiel Cardenas. For the past eight years, this drug kingpin commanded one of the most brutal drug cartels in the world, an organization which continues to be responsible for much of the narco-violence along the Mexico-U.S. border. Of the 79 extraditions from Mexico to the United States to date (January 1, 2007 to November 15, 2007) 40% have been drug-related.
• In March 2007, information passed from DEA to the Mexican Attorney General’s Office resulted in the largest recorded drug cash seizure, $207 million U.S. dollar equivalent. Also seized in this same investigation were luxury vehicles, designer jewelry, and real estate.
• October 2007 was a record-breaking month in terms of the largest cocaine seizures ever in Mexico. Coordination between DEA and Mexican counterparts resulted in the seizure of 23.6 metric tons in Manzanillo with a street value of more than $400 million dollars. A separate operation in Tamaulipas resulted in 11.7 tons of cocaine being removed from the market. The trend of increased seizures has contributed to a 44% price increase for cocaine in the United States
  

Equipment provided to law enforcement counterparts to dismantle clandestine drug operations includes a mobile laboratory and protective clothing.

REDUCING U.S. Drug Consumption

The United States recognizes the importance of preventing drug use and treating addiction, in addition to fighting associated criminal activities. More Information can be found at: www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/

Our National Drug Control Strategy has three elements:

• Stopping use before it starts
• Intervening and healing America’s drug users
• Disrupting the market

The U. S. 2008 budget for drug control is about $13 billion dollars:

• 36% dedicated to reducing demand (treatment & prevention)
• 28% for domestic law enforcement
• 25% interdiction (at borders and at home)

These programs show results:

• Teen drug use is down 23% since 2001 (840,000 fewer users)
• Workplace drug use is at its lowest level in 18 years.
• Since 1988, positive drug tests have fallen from 13.6% in 1988 to 3.8% in 2006.

Law enforcement programs have also produced significant results:

• 29,400 arrests on drug-related charges.
• Nearly 70,000 kg in cocaine and over 320,000 kg of marijuana

President Bush has requested an additional $98.2 million dollars to expand the Access to Recovery program to assist American citizens with addictions. Access to Recovery is a nation-wide program that provides vouchers for treatment as well as recovery support services. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, over 20 million Americans need treatment for illicit drug or alcohol use.

Combating Illicit FIREARMS

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) estimates that 90% of the firearms recovered from crime scenes in Mexico originated in the United States. The principal objective of ATF’s illegal firearms trafficking enforcement actions is to deny criminals access to firearms and reduce violence levels by decreasing the availability of illicit firearms.

ATF works closely with the government of Mexico to provide technical cooperation, training and assistance to fight this influx of weapons. Both nations have agreed that ATF will:

• Work to secure $1.2 million dollars to develop an explosives and firearms detection canine facility and provide enhanced training to detect firearms shipments inside Mexico.
• Provide technical assistance to forensics personnel at Mexico’s national forensics laboratory, as well as recommend improved technology and procedures.
• Implement eTrace (a firearms tracing system) nationwide allowing each state to obtain trace data from firearms recovered within their geographic jurisdiction. ATF has traced more than 62,000 firearms seized in Mexico since 1996 using eTrace. Firearms tracing helps identify firearms straw purchasers, the traffickers, trafficking networks and patterns, thus allowing law enforcement to target and dismantle the infrastructure supplying firearms to the drug trafficking organizations in Mexico