Dear Editor,
Regarding your article editorial, ‘Mexico’s drug wars,’ published on June 13, 2009, I find it essential to highlight some of the far-reaching measures taken by President Calderón’s administration in its fight against organized crime in Mexico.
In confronting drug-trafficking organizations, the Mexican government is paying a very high price, both in human lives and resources. Mexico is, however, firmly determined to put a stop to crime and defend the rule of law at all costs. As you noted in your editorial increased violence is the result in part of gang infighting for control of cartel routes and operations, but mainly stems from the unyielding law-enforcement campaign launched by the administration, which has disrupted illegal activity and decreased the room for manoeuvre for drug syndicates.
This campaign is producing encouraging results. Over the past two years, Mexican security forces have detained 59,979 individuals involved in organized crime, seized 38,404 firearms, and confiscated 17,615 vehicles, 261 boats, and 377 airplanes. An unprecedented 78.3 tons of cocaine have been seized, along with 4,390 tons of marijuana and 32.9 tons of heroin and heroin related materials. A significant amount of over $334.7 million in bulk cash has been confiscated.
These figures may make readers balk, but most importantly they reveal both the severity of the problem we are facing and the exemplary effort of law-enforcement teams in Mexico.
Mexico’s strategy is also an integral one, which covers different high impact areas of social improvement. Along with joint law-enforcement operations, concrete and successful actions are under way to recover public spaces, improve institutional and legal frameworks and strengthen international cooperation.
International cooperation also deserves to be highlighted as part of Mexico’s efforts to combat organized crime. The transnational nature of narcotics trafficking makes it difficult for any country confronted with this threat on its own. As your editorial states, full acknowledgment of the principle of shared responsibility is crucial to successfully meet this challenge. If one country fails, other countries engaged in the fight will find it even more difficult to succeed.
It is for this reason that Mexico negotiated and launched the Merida Initiative with the US government. Both countries consider transnational organized crime, particularly drug trafficking, as a top-priority and both share responsibility in the effort to dismantle drug-trafficking organizations. In order to deprive these organizations of their fire-power and further undermine their foundations, cooperation with the US is now centred on enhancing the interdiction and intelligence capabilities of agencies on both sides of the border. Recently the US Congress agreed to increase anti-narcotics funding for Mexico under the Merida Initiative, providing an additional $420 million for the effort, which is a clear sign of the joint commitment both countries have in fighting this threat and ultimately winning this war.
Mexico is also stepping up its cooperation efforts with other countries in South America in the fight against organized crime. Money laundering, the sharing of intelligence and law enforcement are some of the issues currently under discussion by Colombia, Panama and Mexico as part of an organized crime dialogue mechanism. Further, the Regional Summit on Drugs, Security and Cooperation recently held in Mexico City allowed delegates from different countries, including Guyana, to work together in order to find new ways to effectively tackle this serious problem.
Yours faithfully,
Fernando Sandoval
Ambassador of Mexico
