The Southern border

2009

2009-03-18-WP-Smith-Mexican-cartels

U.S. Efforts Against Mexican Cartels Called Lacking
By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post, 2009-03-18

[Its beginning.]

[1]
U.S. efforts to help the Mexican government battle powerful organized crime networks are falling short, and a recent sharp spike in violence south of the border poses a growing threat to U.S. citizens, senators and independent experts told officials from three federal agencies yesterday on Capitol Hill.

[2]
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard (D), who said his state is the principal American gateway for drugs and human smuggling from Mexico, called the Mexican cartels the principal criminal threat for the 21st century. But he criticized Washington’s response as disjointed and called for more intelligence-sharing and better coordination.

[3]
“We are not winning the battle,” Goddard told members of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on crime and drugs. Lawmakers joined Goddard in calling for a stronger federal response, including heightened efforts to stanch the illicit stream of thousands of American guns and billions of dollars in cash annually flowing southward across the border.

[4]
“Mexican drug cartels . . . pose a direct threat to Americans,” said Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the subcommittee chairman, noting that they now operate in at least 230 U.S. cities, up from about 50 in 2006.

[5]
But their joint alarm over the rising drug-related violence in northern Mexico -- where more than 1,000 people have been slain since the beginning of the year -- was not shared by officials at the hearing from the three principal agencies responsible for helping the Mexican government: the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement branch of the Department of Homeland Security.

...

2009-03-23-NYT-Archibold-drug-cartel-violence-spills

Mexican Drug Cartel Violence Spills Over, Alarming U.S.
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
New York Times, 2009-03-23

2009-03-25-NYT-Thompson-Knowlton

U.S. Taking Steps to Control Violence on the Mexican Border
By GINGER THOMPSON and BRIAN KNOWLTON
New York Times, 2009-03-25

WASHINGTON —

The Obama Administration today announced that
it would increase the number of federal agents
and the amount of surveillance equipment
along the southern border.
And for the first time, the administration said,
government efforts will be aimed at stopping illegal traffic moving into Mexico
as well as interdicting smuggling into the United States.

...

2009-03-30-NYT-Mexico-drug-war

In Drug War, Mexico Fights Cartel and Itself
By MARC LACEY
New York Times, 2009-03-30