Mexico City, Apr 13 (EFE).- The Governments of Mexico and the United States agreed to reinforce efforts to dismantle the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) cartels, as well as the illegal trafficking of fentanyl and firearms in both sides of the border.
“Mexico and the United States pledged to continue joint efforts to dismantle the fentanyl supply chain and the Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel on both sides of the border,” highlights the joint statement issued by both nations after the ” Bicentennial Understanding on Security, Public Health and Secure Communities between Mexico and the United States”.
In this regard, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard commented in a video message shared through his Twitter account that the main objective of this meeting was to “drastically reduce the flow of chemical precursors to Mexico and the United States that come by air or by sea and that facilitate the production of a substance that has come to be called fentanyl”.
He also affirmed that this drug “is consumed, above all, in the United States at this time”, among statements by the US Government in which it is stated that Mexico is a producer of this drug.
In the document signed by the two nations, parties to the Mexico, United States and Canada Treaty (T-MEC), they indicated that the Mexican delegation will carry out the formation of a presidential commission to combat the trafficking of synthetic, illicit drugs, weapons of fire and ammunition.
“This special working group will improve coordination between federal agencies of the Government of Mexico to support the investigation and arrest of individuals involved in the production and trafficking of fentanyl,” it was specified.
Likewise, the governments highlighted that, after the meeting in Washington, DC, in the US, it was agreed to increase cooperation to combat the illegal trafficking of firearms between the two nations.
Regarding this section, the Mexican foreign minister explained that the aim is also to drastically reduce the number of weapons entering Mexico, as this is a pending issue in the bilateral relationship.
He even mentioned that the Mexican government requested a “task force”, a specialized group that will be dedicated “week after week to see at the crossing points that the flow of arms into Mexico is substantially reduced.”
“This (the control of illegal arms trafficking on the northern Mexican border) has already been discussed a lot with the United States. From my point of view it was a good meeting and soon we will have good results”, concluded Ebrard.
Regarding the efforts of the US government on this last point, it was announced that investigations into arms trafficking with a link to Mexico have increased “significantly”, as well as the seizures of firearms and ammunition.
This, through the US Department of Justice and Operation North to South, headed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF, for its acronym in English).
It was also pointed out that these authorities have worked in coordination with their Mexican counterparts to increase the tracing of firearms in order to identify and stop the origin of arms flows into Mexico.
“The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is committed to increasing arms seizures through Operation Desert Lightning, targeting known trafficking corridors as part of an expanded effort under DHS Operation No Trace,” they said in the joint statement. .
For their part, both governments assumed the commitment to attack the consumption of fentanyl and other drugs through a binational prevention public awareness campaign that educates young people, in particular, about the dangers of synthetic drugs, including fentanyl, and that harm the binational community.
