White House reveals anti-cartel plan for U.S. border

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says it is sending more agents and equipment to the southwestern U.S. border to combat Mexican drug cartels.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Deputy Attorney General David Ogden are at the White House announcing they are stepping up efforts to keep violence from spilling over the border into the United States.

Violent turf battles among cartels have wracked Mexico in recent years and led to a spate of kidnappings and home invasions in some U.S. cities.

Authorities say they will increase the number of immigration and customs agents, drug agents and antigun trafficking agents operating along the border.

Prosecutors say they will make a greater effort to go after those smuggling guns and drug profits from the United States into Mexico.

Officials said President Obama is particularly concerned about killings in Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana, Mexican cities just across the border from El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, Calif., and wants to prevent the violence from spilling over into the United States.

Among moves the government plans:

• Doubling border enforcement security teams that combine local, state, and federal officers.

• Adding 16 new Drug Enforcement Administration positions in the southwestern region. DEA currently has more than 1,000 agents working along the southwest border.

• Sending 100 more people form the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to the border during the next 45 days. A recent bill passed by Congress already provided money for the ATF to hire 37 new agents and support staff in the region to fight gun trafficking.

The administration also is highlighting $700 million that Congress has approved to support Mexico's efforts to fight the cartels.
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