Thread: DHS, DOJ, and Mexico, initiative to bolster investigative co

DHS, DOJ, and Mexico announce initiative to bolster investigative cooperation

(Media-Newswire.com) - SAN ANTONIO - Department of Homeland Security ( DHS ) Secretary Janet Napolitano, Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina-Mora, Mexican National Public Security System Executive Secretary Jorge Tello Peón, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) Assistant Secretary John Morton and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ( ATF ) Acting Director Kenneth E. Melson today signed a Letter of Intent to develop a coordinated and intelligence-driven response to the threat of cross border smuggling and trafficking of weapons and ammunition.

"Enforcing our laws at the border requires close collaboration with our international and domestic allies to ensure our mutual security," said Secretary Napolitano. "This arrangement underlines our continued commitment to working with Mexico to stop violence and deter criminal activity that threatens safety on both sides of the border."

"The Letter of Intent illustrates our unconditional commitment to improve public safety in the United States and Mexico, and strengthens our determination to investigate and share intelligence to combat international firearms trafficking and violent crime," said Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden. "Law enforcement agencies in both nations recognize the importance of tracing every crime gun recovered on the Southwest border to help determine trafficking patterns and potential traffickers of illicit firearms."

The arrangement signed today, supported by President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderón, will leverage the combined investigative capabilities of ICE, ATF and the Attorney General of Mexico to combat violence and criminal activity along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Letter of Intent recommends a joint strategic implementation plan to develop cooperative protocols to govern weapons and ammunition trafficking investigations in the United States and Mexico and improve information sharing between the two countries to better identify smuggling and trafficking trends and support bilateral investigation efforts.

Secretary Napolitano also publicly announced the formation of the first-ever Mexico-based Border Enforcement Security Task Force ( BEST ), the latest expansion of the effective BEST initiative to coordinate intelligence sharing on both sides of the border to bolster investigations and crack down on illicit trafficking activities.

The Mexico BEST, comprised of approximately 40 personnel representing four Mexican law enforcement agencies, will work with ICE Attaché Mexico City and other U.S. government agencies to utilize intelligence from seizures by the government of Mexico to respond to leads generated by U.S. law enforcement agencies, including the ten existing Southwest border BESTs.

Secretary Napolitano signed the Letter of Intent following her remarks at ICE's 2009 BEST Conference. In her remarks, she discussed the importance of DHS coordination with Mexico on all aspects of border security and highlighted the BEST teams and other cooperative security efforts - including the arrangement signed today - as examples of the unprecedented coordination between the two nations.

Today's announcement is the most recent arrangement between DHS, the government of Mexico and other federal agencies. In June, Secretary Napolitano joined with Mexican Secretary of Finance and Public Credit AugustÃ*n Carstens to sign a Letter of Intent to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two nations in increasing security and facilitating the flow of legitimate travel and trade.

DHS and the Department of Justice recently enhanced coordination between ATF and ICE to combat international firearms trafficking and between DEA and ICE to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking organizations.


-- ICE --



http://media-newswire.com/release_1096612.html

Secretary Napolitano also publicly announced the formation of the first-ever Mexico-based Border Enforcement Security Task Force ( BEST ), the latest expansion of the effective BEST initiative to coordinate intelligence sharing on both sides of the border to bolster investigations and crack down on illicit trafficking activities.

"announced the first-ever Mexico-based"Border Enforcement Security Task Force. What took Mexico so long to get in on this fight? Is this the best they can do? I guess we will see how much that will help. I hope it does.

Wow! Can DHS, Napolitano, and Obama make it any clearer they have no plans to secure our borders against illegal immigration?

weapons and ammunition.

This entire release specifically states that only weapons and ammunition smuggling is a target!

No illegal alien smuggling mentioned AT ALL!

These people are traitors to the existing laws passed by Congress and the will of the American majority.

W

43 Indicted in U.S., Mexico on Drug Trafficking Charges

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By Carrie Johnson

Thursday, August 20, 2009; 11:41 AM

Law enforcement officials Thursday morning unveiled criminal charges against 43 defendants in the United States and Mexico, including leaders of prominent drug cartels in a country that has been plagued with gun violence.

A group of federal agencies including the Justice Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the cases, filed in New York and Chicago. Eight defendants were arrested over the past week although current and former alleged kingpins in the organized crime syndicate known as the "Sinaloa Cartel" remain at large, authorities said.

The action marks the latest attempt by U.S. and Mexican law enforcement to stem the flow of drugs, weapons and cash across the Southwest border.

"Today's indictments demonstrate our unwavering commitment to root out the leaders of these criminal enterprises wherever they may be found," Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said.

Between 1990 and 2008, the indictments claim, the accused drug lords and their allies imported and distributed on American soil nearly 200 tons of cocaine and vast stores of heroin that fetched more than $5.8 billion.

Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who appeared in Washington alongside his counterpart from Brooklyn, said the court filings "are among the most significant drug conspiracy charges ever returned" in his city.

Homeland security officials said that U.S. agencies are "working closer than ever before to develop a united strategy to break down criminal drug operations, in the words of Assistant Secretary John Morton.


Among the defendants charged in indictments unsealed Thursday are Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman-Loera, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada-Garcia and Arturo Beltran-Leyva, who allegedly helped run the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.

Seven other cartel leaders also face criminal charges that threaten to send them to prison for life. Most have ties to Sinaloa, also known as "The Federation," but a minority are connected to the Juarez cartel and other groups, the Justice Department said Thursday.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02036.html