US Boosts Mexico Border Security

by Rachel Nixon | March 24, 2009 at 09:53 am

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The White House is to boost security on the US-Mexico border in an attempt to quell surging drug-related violence and combat drug cartels.

The plan calls for boosting the number of agents from the US departments of justice, treasury and homeland security for border security and stationing new inspection technology at border stations.

About 100 agents from the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) will be sent to the US-Mexico border within 45 days to crack down on the flow of arms from the US into Mexico.

More than 1,000 people have already died in Mexico this year in drug-related violence. Some 8,000 people have died over the past two years in turf wars between rival drugs gangs seeking to control lucrative routes into the US.

The plan will draw on $700m (£475m) of funds already allocated by Congress to assist Mexico in its fight against the drug cartels.

Mexico's government will also receive five helicopters and a surveillance aircraft as part of the scheme.

Earlier this year, the US Defense Department warned that Mexico was in danger of becoming a failed state because of drugs gangs. This was an issue addressed by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Tuesday.

Napolitano said she was confident that Mexico's government "will not fail" in its war against the cartels.

However she dismissed suggestions that a border wall could stop drugs flowing into the US from Mexico, saying it "is not the best way" to prevent drugs from moving across the border.

Further diplomatic moves are expected in the coming days and weeks.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Mexico on Wednesday for the first of a series of high-level meetings between the two governments.

President Barack Obama is also expected to visit Mexico in the coming weeks.