09-07-2009, 04:26 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-07-2009, 04:33 PM by Tosh Plumlee.)
Wall Street Journal
MARCH 11, 2009
Congress Aims to Police Border Violence
By CAM SIMPSON and EVAN PEREZ
WASHINGTON -- The number of federal agents trying to keep drugs and illegal immigrants out of the U.S. has more than doubled in five years. Congress now wants those sentinels to keep watch in both directions -- to stop the smuggling of U.S. guns and cash to Mexico.
Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Tuesday urged officials from the Department of Homeland Security to halt the flow of weapons and drug profits that has fueled the violence by Mexico's drug gangs.
At a hearing, some lawmakers expressed disappointment at the lack of a specific plan from Homeland Security officials to attack the problem, which has claimed thousands of lives. The ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, California Rep. Jerry Lewis, compared the task to the challenge facing the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has said tackling the issue is a top priority. But officials who lead the two biggest DHS agencies involved -- Customs and Border Protection, and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement -- said in interviews they don't have funding currently designated for so-called outbound enforcement.
Rep. Hal Rogers, the top Republican on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, which held Tuesday's hearing, said U.S. officials are "burying our heads in the sands of Cancún."
One angry Democrat, Rep. Sam Farr of California, threatened to hold up the department's funding until there is a coordinated plan for going after the guns.
The Mexican government is fighting a war with its drug cartels and their armed enforcers. The gangs are battling for access routes to the lucrative U.S. market and much of the violence straddles the border.
The fighting is being waged with thousands of American-purchased or stolen weapons flowing south illegally each year, U.S. officials say.
The State Department recently estimated U.S.-originated guns were used in 95% of Mexico's drug-related killings. The number of such murders more than doubled to almost 6,000 last year, up from about 2,700 in 2007.
Meanwhile, U.S. authorities seized only 257 weapons heading south at border checkpoints in 2008 -- and a total of just 733 dating back to the start of 2005, according to data Homeland Security officials provided to The Wall Street Journal.
The fighting is also fueled by the cash earned by Mexican gangs selling their illicit products in the U.S. The State Department estimated that as much as $22 billion in drug proceeds were sent from the U.S. to Mexico between 2003 and the end of last year, much of it through bulk-cash smuggling.
Since July 2005, teams established by ICE to take on drug-cartel operations along the border have seized a total of $22.7 million in cash, a fraction of the estimated drug profits.
The teams received $10 million in the budget for the year ended Sept. 30, 2008, but nothing since, officials said Tuesday. Ms. Napolitano has promised a total of $45 million more for border protection next year, but it's unclear how much of that would be directed toward stemming the flow of guns and money to Mexico.
A separate hearing Tuesday focused on foreign assistance for Mexico's drug war under the so-called Merida Initiative. The plan, instituted under President George W. Bush, has directed $1.4 billion in aid to Mexico, mostly through training and equipment. Obama administration officials say they are committed to the deal.
Justice Department officials recently touted a nationwide campaign targeting Mexico's Sinaloa cartel operations in the U.S., arresting more than 50 alleged members from California to Maryland on one day last month. Calling it "Operation Xcellerator," the department tallied more than 750 arrests in the U.S. and Mexico over the past 21 months and the seizure of more than $59 million in illicit proceeds.
Law-enforcement officials acknowledge that the Mexican and U.S. governments have yet to gain the upper hand against these groups' U.S. operations, which reach coast to coast, from dealers in small towns in Maine to big-city coordinators in Southern California.
Drug Enforcement Administration officials estimate the Xcellerator operation cost the Sinaloa cartel $1 billion, including drug seizures. That figure is an estimate of what the cartel would have earned from the disrupted drug sales....".
Nothing has been done to date except talk and BS on both sides of our political parties and officials. Over 15,000 people killed in Mexico in two years and we just talk a lot about something we know nothing about or really care about.
It will not be long before you will have the cartels running this country, much like they do now in Mexico.. or perhaps its to late... follow the money.
MARCH 11, 2009
Congress Aims to Police Border Violence
By CAM SIMPSON and EVAN PEREZ
WASHINGTON -- The number of federal agents trying to keep drugs and illegal immigrants out of the U.S. has more than doubled in five years. Congress now wants those sentinels to keep watch in both directions -- to stop the smuggling of U.S. guns and cash to Mexico.
Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Tuesday urged officials from the Department of Homeland Security to halt the flow of weapons and drug profits that has fueled the violence by Mexico's drug gangs.
At a hearing, some lawmakers expressed disappointment at the lack of a specific plan from Homeland Security officials to attack the problem, which has claimed thousands of lives. The ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, California Rep. Jerry Lewis, compared the task to the challenge facing the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has said tackling the issue is a top priority. But officials who lead the two biggest DHS agencies involved -- Customs and Border Protection, and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement -- said in interviews they don't have funding currently designated for so-called outbound enforcement.
Rep. Hal Rogers, the top Republican on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, which held Tuesday's hearing, said U.S. officials are "burying our heads in the sands of Cancún."
One angry Democrat, Rep. Sam Farr of California, threatened to hold up the department's funding until there is a coordinated plan for going after the guns.
The Mexican government is fighting a war with its drug cartels and their armed enforcers. The gangs are battling for access routes to the lucrative U.S. market and much of the violence straddles the border.
The fighting is being waged with thousands of American-purchased or stolen weapons flowing south illegally each year, U.S. officials say.
The State Department recently estimated U.S.-originated guns were used in 95% of Mexico's drug-related killings. The number of such murders more than doubled to almost 6,000 last year, up from about 2,700 in 2007.
Meanwhile, U.S. authorities seized only 257 weapons heading south at border checkpoints in 2008 -- and a total of just 733 dating back to the start of 2005, according to data Homeland Security officials provided to The Wall Street Journal.
The fighting is also fueled by the cash earned by Mexican gangs selling their illicit products in the U.S. The State Department estimated that as much as $22 billion in drug proceeds were sent from the U.S. to Mexico between 2003 and the end of last year, much of it through bulk-cash smuggling.
Since July 2005, teams established by ICE to take on drug-cartel operations along the border have seized a total of $22.7 million in cash, a fraction of the estimated drug profits.
The teams received $10 million in the budget for the year ended Sept. 30, 2008, but nothing since, officials said Tuesday. Ms. Napolitano has promised a total of $45 million more for border protection next year, but it's unclear how much of that would be directed toward stemming the flow of guns and money to Mexico.
A separate hearing Tuesday focused on foreign assistance for Mexico's drug war under the so-called Merida Initiative. The plan, instituted under President George W. Bush, has directed $1.4 billion in aid to Mexico, mostly through training and equipment. Obama administration officials say they are committed to the deal.
Justice Department officials recently touted a nationwide campaign targeting Mexico's Sinaloa cartel operations in the U.S., arresting more than 50 alleged members from California to Maryland on one day last month. Calling it "Operation Xcellerator," the department tallied more than 750 arrests in the U.S. and Mexico over the past 21 months and the seizure of more than $59 million in illicit proceeds.
Law-enforcement officials acknowledge that the Mexican and U.S. governments have yet to gain the upper hand against these groups' U.S. operations, which reach coast to coast, from dealers in small towns in Maine to big-city coordinators in Southern California.
Drug Enforcement Administration officials estimate the Xcellerator operation cost the Sinaloa cartel $1 billion, including drug seizures. That figure is an estimate of what the cartel would have earned from the disrupted drug sales....".
Nothing has been done to date except talk and BS on both sides of our political parties and officials. Over 15,000 people killed in Mexico in two years and we just talk a lot about something we know nothing about or really care about.
It will not be long before you will have the cartels running this country, much like they do now in Mexico.. or perhaps its to late... follow the money.