How the United States participated in the fight against drug trafficking in Mexico

According to Report of the US State Department's International Drug Control Strategy, this nation supported the fight against drug trafficking in Mexico by means of intelligence services, training and specialized equipment.

In the Volume I of the report, in charge of Bureau of International Drug Affairs and Law Enforcement, themes of Control of drugs and chemicals. The report, dated March 2019, covers information from January to December 2018.

According to the document to which he had access InfobaeThe United States supported the work of the Navy Secretariat (SEMAR), the Ministry of National Defense (SEDENA), the federal police, the tax administration (SAT) and the Attorney General's Office (PMP) precisely with training, specialized equipment and intelligence work.

"In August, SEMAR seized and destroyed more than 130 tonnes of processed methamphetamine and more than 29,000 liters and 10,000 kg of precursors from several clandestine laboratories, as well as underground storage sites in Sinaloa and Durango."

According to the report, During these actions, SEMAR used equipment and training provided by the DEA.

The vision on Mexico

At the beginning of the report, there is a written by President Donald Trump, in which he expressed his concern for certain nations.

"Mexico is a country of origin and transit important for heroin, marijuana and synthetic drugs destined for the United States and is an important transit country for cocaine from South America. I am deeply concerned by the growing development of illicit drug crops in successive years. Colombia, Mexico and Afghanistan and they are now at record levels. "

"The production and trafficking of drugs in these three countries directly affect the national interests of the United States and the health and safety of US citizens. Heroin generated in Mexico and cocaine in Colombia make thousands of victims each year in the United States. "

The report indicates that Mexico would be the main source of heroin in the US domestic market and the main route of fentanyl originating in China. According to your data, in 2017, a production of 111 tons of drugs in Mexico was estimated at 44,100 hectares.

Merida Initiative, the key

The report established that the Merida Initiative, a bilateral security cooperation agreement signed by the two countries in 2007, is "main driver of bilateral security cooperation and plays a vital role in the fight against the opioid epidemic in the United States"The idea is to stop the illicit trafficking of opioids produced in Mexico.

This initiative supports the training of dogs in the detection of fentanyl and, according to the document, in February 2018, experts from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police offered training in Mexico for the detection of fentanyl with the help of dogs.

Training was also held in October on the SEDENA and PGR dog programs. In July, at the Nogales border, a course was offered to 34 Mexican officers.

The document indicates that US aid to Mexico includes "training and equipment needed to dismantle drug-clandestine laboratories, state-of-the-art airport security technology, inspection equipment for border crossings and checkpoints, and reconnaissance technologies to improve shipping"

Towards the end of the report on Mexico, the document indicated that the drug trafficking, corruption and related violence they remain the main challenges for the security of citizens in Mexico.

The failure of the Merida initiative to end corruption and violence in Mexico

InSight Crime, a research organization specializing in security issues, conducted an badysis for Gaps in the approach and implementation of the Mérida initiative.

The organization has described the initiative as "ineffective" for two basic reasons. The first is that violence, far from dissipating, has increased. This, he said, because many have emphasized the use of military forces to fight organized crime, which has only led to an escalation in the number of deaths in Mexico since its launch.

He gave as an example the trial of Capuco Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera, which at first sight might seem like a blow to drug trafficking. However, this only reflects a strategy that has only led to the decentralization of crime. "Groups such as Jalisco's Next Generation Cartel (CJNG) have been formed following the break-up of previous cartels," said the organization.

The second reason is corruption. The initiative aimed to combat this crime by participating in a series of reforms setting up an open adversarial prosecution system, as it exists in the United States. Previously, Mexico depended on a less transparent inquisitory system, in which all the trials were held behind closed doors.

However, according to the organization, it lacked the resources to provide the police and prosecutors with the necessary training to adapt to their new functions in the system.. The result so far has been an unsuccessful attempt to imitate legal processes such as those of the United States, in a country whose judicial system is inefficient and very corrupt.

According to the organization, the strategy that López Obrador intends to apply during his administration does not seem to have many possibilities to change his panorama, because his security policy will continue to use militarization with the establishment of the National Guard.