Thread: Issa, Bilbray question top officials on Mexican drug violenc

Issa, Bilbray question top officials on Mexican drug violence

Lawmakers suggest stiffer penalties for smugglers, tighter banking laws

By EDWARD SIFUENTES - esifuentes@nctimes.com | Thursday, July 9, 2009 5:33 PM PDT ∞

Two congressmen who represent North County suggested Thursday that the U.S. increase penalties for smugglers and tighten banking laws to keep the drug war in Mexico south of the border.

Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, and Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, are members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which held a televised hearing in Washington, D.C., on drug crime in Mexico.

They asked Obama administration officials how they plan to keep the violence from spilling over the border.

Officials said they share the committee's concerns about the crisis, which has dampened travel and trade, and are taking preventive steps to keep it at bay by increasing southbound inspections to keep guns from being smuggled into Mexico and even considering putting more National Guard troops on the border.

Alan Bersin, a former U.S. attorney in San Diego and the Homeland Security Department's new assistant secretary for border affairs, said the U.S. has a "historic" opportunity to dismantle Mexico's drug cartels because of Mexican President Felipe Calderon's "courageous" willingness to battle the traffickers.

Since he was elected in 2006, Calderon has sent troops throughout the country to challenge organized crime. But thousands of Mexican soldiers and police, who are outgunned and outnumbered, have been killed as the cartels fight back.

More than 3,600 people, including civilians, have been killed this year alone, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

The violence in Mexico has affected the San Diego County and Tijuana region through increased border inspections, growing waits at ports of entry, fewer U.S. tourists traveling to Mexico and tightened restrictions on U.S. Marines' leisure travel south of the border.

"What is this administration's plan?" asked Issa, the ranking Republican member on the committee, in his opening statement. "Can the Obama administration do it better and more effectively than past administrations?"

Congress and the president allocated $420 million this year for the fight through the Merida Initiative, an agreement between the two countries to share intelligence, and help train and equip Mexico's law enforcement, officials said.

The administration also has increased southbound vehicle inspections in places such as San Diego to keep traffickers from shipping large amounts of cash and weapons to their home base in Mexico, Bersin said.

Issa asked whether stricter laws penalizing people smugglers are needed. He said human smugglers, often called coyotes, are increasingly involved in drug trafficking, using illegal immigrants as "drug mules."

Lanny Breuer, an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department, said tougher penalties may not be needed because local U.S. attorneys should have discretion on when to prosecute smugglers. He added that finding enough room in prison for all human smugglers would be a "terrific challenge."

Bilbray said he would like stricter banking controls to keep cartels from using U.S. bank accounts to transfer and launder money. He said the administration should require people to show verifiable ID cards to open bank accounts.

The Bush administration blocked legislation that would have prohibited banks from accepting ID cards issued by Mexico called "matriculas consulares," which often are used by illegal immigrants as a form of identification.

"In San Diego, it's a hot issue that you can go into any consulate and get an ID and open a bank account," Bilbray said.

Robert McBrien, associate director for the Office of Foreign Assets Control, said the federal government is going after drug lords' money through the federal Kingpin Act, a 1999 law that allows the U.S. to freeze assets held by known drug traffickers.

McBrien said money is the lifeblood of criminal drug organizations.

"Our objective is to go after their backbone and break it," he said.

Several members of the committee asked whether the federal government will increase the number of National Guard troops stationed at the border.

In 2006, the Bush administration temporarily sent thousands of National Guard troops to the border to help the Border Patrol conduct surveillance and other security operations while that agency bolstered its own ranks. Only about 400 troops remain on the border, Bersin said.

The administration is considering a plan to bring some of the troops back to the border, Bersin said.

In a letter to President Barack Obama dated Tuesday, Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-El Cajon, said the administration should use some of the funds designated under the Merida Initiative to put more National Guard troops on the border.

"Providing the Full Time National Guard Duty Counterdrug Program with the funding it needs, rather than sending additional taxpayer support to Mexico, would better position National Guard and law enforcement agencies to fight illegal drug activity within our borders," Hunter wrote.

Call staff writer Edward Sifuentes at 760-740-3511.

http://nctimes.com/articles/2009/07/09/ ... 6a5d68.txt

The administration is considering a plan to bring some of the troops back to the border, Bersin said.

Can they have guns this time?