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Saturday, June 06, 2009
U.S. Aims To Stem Flow of Guns, Cash
By T.J. Wilham
Journal Staff Writer
Getting into Mexico could be just as hard as getting out.
Border agents are starting to search cars and trains, weighing vehicles, checking license plates and using dogs to sniff out money in an attempt to stop the drug cartels from doing business in the United States.
It's all a part of a new counternarcotics strategy unveiled Friday in Albuquerque by two of President Barack Obama's Cabinet members: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder.
The strategy also calls for:
• Equipping jails with an immigration database to see whether people they release are in the country illegally.
• Sharing information on federal seizures with local law enforcement.
• Continuing to provide equipment and funding to help Mexican President Felipe Calderon fight the cartels.
• Cut the number of people addicted to drugs that are supplied from Mexico.
"We are engaged on a southbound strategy," Napolitano said. "Knowing that the cartels are fueled in part by the cash that is garnered by the sale of narcotics in the United States and by arms acquired in the United States, we are looking to impede the traffic of that cash and those arms headed south."
Holder said the Attorney General's Office will aggressively prosecute cases involving drug trafficking organizations that do business with the cartels.
One of those organizations was dismantled last year by local and federal law enforcement agencies in Albuquerque after an 18-month investigation.
Authorities said the Aispuro drug trafficking organization moved more than $200,000 or 25 pounds of methamphetamine each week in the Albuquerque area and supplied the drug to hundreds.
Expect to see more joint federal and local law enforcement operations under the strategy, Holder said.
"Drug trafficking cartels spread violence and lawlessness throughout our border region," he said. "(This strategy) will crack down on cartels and ultimately make our country safer.
"This plan must be a national priority."
The strategy was received well by local law enforcement agencies.
Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz said he has been asking for a southbound border crackdown ever since the city's auto theft rate skyrocketed. Detectives say stolen cars from Albuquerque are ending up in Mexico.
"People have no idea how important it is going to be to start doing aggressive enforcement on outgoing traffic," Schultz said. "It is going to have a reduction on stolen vehicles, stolen property, stolen firearms and illegal monies going back into Mexico. I am very happy with that part of the strategy."
Every year, the president's Office of National Drug Control Policy issues a strategy on how to fight narcotics smuggling along the Southwestern border.
Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White said the strategy is similar to others proposed under the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, with the exception of a stronger emphasis on southbound border traffic.
"It's not what the United States is doing; it is what Mexico is doing," White said. "President Calderon's efforts are unprecedented. He only has three years left in his administration, and we need to do everything in our power to provide him the assistance he needs."
Some of the southbound border checks have already started. Last week, U.S. border czar Alan Bersin visited the Bridge of the Americas port of entry to tout the inspections of Mexico-bound vehicles for weapons and suspected drug profits. At the time, the inspections were already occurring.
From Oct. 1 through May 25, Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have combined to seize $70.4 million in U.S. currency — all suspected drug profits — at the Southwestern border. In comparison, Customs and Border Protection officers seized $12.5 million in bulk cash last fiscal year.
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