White House unveils anti-cartel effort for border

By DEVLIN BARRETT and EILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writers Devlin Barrett And Eileen Sullivan, Associated Press Writers – 2 mins ago


WASHINGTON – The Obama administration plans to send more agents and equipment to the southwestern border to fight Mexican drug cartels and keep violence from spilling over into the United States.

Speaking at the White House Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said officials were still considering whether to deploy the National Guard to the border. She plans to meet with the governor of Texas to discuss the matter.

Deputy Attorney General David Ogden pledged "to destroy these criminal organizations" through a united effort on both sides of the border.

Many of the moves being announced are a continuation or expansion of programs that already existed under the Bush administration.

Violent turf battles among the cartels have wracked Mexico in recent years, and led to a spate of kidnappings and home invasions in some U.S. cities.

Authorities said they will increase the number of immigrations and customs agents, drug agents and anti-gun trafficking agents operating along the border.

Prosecutors say they will make a greater effort to go after those smuggling guns and drug profits from the U.S. into Mexico.

Officials said President Barack Obama is particularly concerned about killings in Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana, and wants to prevent such violence from spilling over into the United States.

Among the moves the government is making:

_Doubling the border enforcement security teams that combine local, state, and federal officers.

_Adding 16 new Drug Enforcement Administration positions in the southwest region. DEA currently has more than 1,000 agents working in the southwest border region.

_Sending 100 more people form the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to the border in the next 45 days. A recent bill passed by Congress already provided money for the ATF to hire 37 new agents and support staff in the region to fight gun trafficking.

The administration is also highlighting $700 million that Congress has already approved to support Mexico's efforts to fight the cartels.

Yet the plan so far falls short of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's request last month that 1,000 troops be sent to bolster border security in his state.

During a visit to El Paso last month, Perry said he had asked Napolitano for aviation assets and "1,000 more troops that we can commit to different parts of the border."

Asked then it he wanted the military, Perry said, "I really don't care. As long as they are boots on the ground that are properly trained to deal with the border region, I don't care whether they are military troops, or National Guard troops or whether they are customs agents."

Last week, a Perry spokeswoman said that federal border protection had been underfunded for some time and that the 1,000 extra troops Perry requested would fill in gaps that state and local agencies have been covering.

The cartel is not a gang...it is an organized killing and dealing machine. These people under the rule of a very sick and deadly man (who by the way, is one of the richest men) will make people do their work. Do it or die. That is what they do. They find people and force them to move or distribute their narcotics and pot to America (who is the largest consumer) where people flock after it. Not only that...they force them to make, handle and package their dope. If even a little bit is missing..they will kill them.
So those peole that partake in coke, ice, and the really good pot...heroin..How many died or will die so you can snort,shoot,smoke
someones death?
Legalize pot, those same drug pushers will stand to make even more money...because no one will want to pay that tax. It will get worse.


It has got so bad that churches are not sending their missionaries there. The government is warning about vacationing there. People are dying at an alarming rate in Mexico. By murder, for the greed and profit...and doping ignorance.
Kat