US cracks down on Mexico cartels
US federal agents have arrested some 750 people across the country in a
crackdown on Mexican drug cartels, US Attorney General Eric Holder has
said.
Among them were 52 people arrested on Wednesday in California, Minnesota
and Maryland in raids targeting the powerful Sinaloa cartel, he said.
Agents also seized 23 tonnes of drugs in the 21-month operation.
A 2008 justice department report found Mexican traffickers were the
biggest organised crime threat to the US.
Most of the cocaine available in the US is smuggled via the US-Mexican
border, while Mexican drug traffickers control most of the US drug
market.
Mexican smugglers are also increasingly working with US gangs, the
report found.
The Sinaloa cartel is one of four main Mexican drug-trafficking groups,
the others being the Gulf cartel, the Tijuana cartel and the Juarez
cartel.
The US Congress has authorised the spending of $1.6bn (£1.1bn) dollars
to confront the threat of drug trafficking and organised crime from
Mexico and Central America.
So far, $197m (£138m) has been released for military and law enforcement
training and equipment in Mexico.
Some 6,000 people were killed last year in Mexico in violence linked to
organised crime. Mexican media reported that by mid-February this year
there had already been 1,000 killings.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.
Published: 2009/02/25 20:48:10 GMT
Thursday, 26 February 2009
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