The Attorneys General of the U.S. and Mexico today vowed to 'jointly and with resolve and boldness' attack the wave of drug fueled violence which has killed hundreds in northern Mexico in the past 18 months and is increasing spilling over into the U.S.

"Mexico and the United States will act as a single unified choke hold who's efforts will overwhelm organized crime that threatens the border area, a sensitive region of shared interest to both countries," Mexico's Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca told a news conference following sessions involving top law enforcement officials from both countries at a downtown hotel here.

"Citizens of Mexico and the U.S. share common values and a hope for a peaceful world," added U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Fights between rival drug gangs for control of the lucrative drug shipping routes into the U.S. have resulted in brutal violence that has paralyzed the northern Mexico cities of Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, Ciudad Juarez, and Tijuana, with the worst violence seen in Nuevo Laredo. Hundreds of people have been murdered in the city in the past 12 months, including a police chief who was killed after less than a day on the job. 23 Americans have been kidnapped and are still missing in the wave of violence, which is believed to be connected to murders committed as far away as Dallas.

Most of the agreements reached today involve the sharing of knowledge and technology. The U.S. will train Mexican customs officials, the FBI will provide advanced forensic testing of evidence in its labs, and will provide forensic equipment to Mexican officials, and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons will help Mexico's notorious corrupt prison system use high technology to deter the introduction of contraband. U.S. victim and witness protection programs will be expanded to help Mexican officials secure the testimony necessary prosecute drug criminal in Mexico.

Gonzales also agreed to send a "Violent Crime Impact Team" including agents from the FBI, ATF, Marshal's Service, Department of Homeland Security, and others to Laredo, effectively doubling the federal law enforcement presence in the border city. Gonzales said the strike forces have been successful in putting down spasms of violence in Miami, Baltimore, and elsewhere.

"These rapid response team target hot zones for violent activity, and identify a community's worst offenders," Gonzales said. "They will work with our international partners to investigate and prosecute violent crimes."

Both officials said the violence threatens commerce between the two countries.

"Each country within its own jurisdiction will make its best efforts to fight this scourge," Cabeza de Vaca said.

Gonzales said he is also concerned about an influx of the violent Salvadoran gang MS-13 into the United States. He said MS-13 has become a serious problem for law enforcement officials in his home town in northern Virginia, and is the number one concern of law enforcement officials he talks with nationwide.

"Gangs as I travel around the United States, one of the two issues they fear the most is the rise of violent gangs in our country."

The Mexican Attorney General downplayed claims that former Mexican Army Special Forces troops, known as "Zetas," are working as hit men for one of the drug cartels, and may be responsible for murders in the United States.

"We do not today have reports of Zeta operatives acting within the United States territory, and as regards their operations within Mexican territory, it is either notably reduced or eliminated," Cabeza de Vaca said. "Doubtless there are free agents of vigilantes who have taken advantage and operate within these areas and have taken advantage and are responsible for certain violent incidents."

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