Homeland Security Fighting Mexican Drug Cartels
Napolitano Outlines Southwest Border Strategy
May 11, 2009
“These cartels are the same criminal organizations that put drugs on our streets and use violence as a tool of their trade,” Napolitano told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Illegal drugs, money, and weapons flow both ways across our border and inextricably link the United States and Mexico in this battle.”
Strengthening U.S.-Mexico Border
Napolitano said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in cooperation with other agencies in both the United States and Mexico will pour additional manpower, equipment, and technology into the border area; prevent the southbound flow of weapons and cash into Mexico; and increase support and collaboration with Mexican counterparts.
For example, in 2007 DHS created the Homeland Security Intelligence Support Team at the El Paso Intelligence Center to improve information sharing among federal agencies and with state, local, and tribal partners.
Countering Cross-Border Violence by Mexican Cartels
In 2006, DHS also created Border Enforcement Security Taskforces (BEST), which are led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and include Mexican law enforcement agencies.
Since their creation, BEST teams have facilitated:
- 2,166 criminal arrests,
- 2,900 administrative arrests,
- 924 indictments, and
- 763 convictions.
In addition, BESTs have seized approximately:
- 8,000 pounds of cocaine,
- 173,212 pounds of marijuana,
- 1,089 weapons and explosives,
- 1,224 vehicles, and
- $25 million in U.S. currency and monetary instruments.
To enhance this apparently successful effort, DHS will shift investigators to the taskforces and increase the number of agents working on BESTs from 95 to 190, Napolitano said.
Merida Initiative Against Mexican Cartels
The cornerstone of U.S.-Mexico security cooperation is the Mérida Initiative, led by the Department of State with “enthusiastic” cooperation from DHS, Napolitano said.
“Mérida is a platform to work more cooperatively with regional partners on addressing security threats and to make America safer by developing regional security partnerships,” Napolitano said.
“Mérida's support for bilateral information sharing, law enforcement training, and interdiction efforts will strengthen these relationships,” she added.
DHS is also strengthening its coordination with Mexico by reassigning agents to increase ICE Attaché personnel in Mexico by 50 percent.
Stopping Weapons Smuggling to Mexico
“A large number of weapons recovered in Mexico's drug war are smuggled illegally into Mexico from the United States,” Napolitano said. “Clearly, stopping this flow must be an urgent priority.”
In this effort, ICE has launched Operation Armas Cruzadas, a partnership with the government of Mexico to fight cross-border arms smuggling, by taking “an intelligence-driven, systematic approach to arms trafficking investigations,” she told the committee.
Operation Armas Cruzadas has resulted in 112 criminal arrests and seizure of:
· 116,478 rounds of ammunition,
· 1,417 weapons, and
· $3,341,388 in monetary instruments.
DHS has tripled the number of intelligence analysts from the its Office of Intelligence and Analysis on the southwest border and now screens 100 percent of southbound traffic on the eight rail crossings along the southwest border.
Illegal Movements of Cash
“Coupled with screening for weapons smuggling, DHS is also combating the illegal movement of cash across the southwest border,” Napolitano testified.
Operation Firewall and other efforts led by ICE led to more than $50 million in cash seizures in fiscal year 2008, she said.
Furthermore, DHS units currently have 12 canine teams trained to detect both weapons and currency, which are being deployed as a part of a strategy to catch outbound smuggling.
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