Mexican and US security officials agreed on Thursday in Washington to carry out “a series of coordinated actions” against the trafficking of arms and drugs across their shared border, the Mexican government announced.
The goal is to “reduce deaths in both countries due to illegal fentanyl consumption” in the United States and “the use of illegally trafficked firearms” in Mexico, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said.
Officials from the two countries agreed on a set of coordinated actions, which will be implemented over the coming weeks and months, to strengthen the fight against organised crime on both sides of the border, the statement added.
Mexican government officials were in Washington on Thursday to prevent US President Donald Trump from imposing a 25% tariff on Mexican exports starting on Tuesday 4 March.
Trump confirmed on Thursday his intention to punish Mexico and Canada, his two partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement, because “drugs continue to pour into our country” from the two neighbouring nations, he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
In response to the US allegations, Mexico has filed a lawsuit in the United States against US gun manufacturers.
Earlier in the day, Mexico announced the extradition of 29 alleged drug traffickers to the United States, including Rafael Caro Quintero, according to the Mexican government.
Known as the marijuana kingpin in the 1980s, Caro Quintero was one of the FBI’s most wanted criminals for his alleged involvement in the 1985 kidnapping, torture, and murder of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in Mexico.
