As guns go south, drugs - and violence - go north

[CHIMO]

For the Obama White House, pondering how to reshape the Bush administration's war on drugs, the concerns presented by the deepening crisis in Mexico are twofold.

The first was highlighted by the chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, talking about US-Mexican counter-narcotics co-operation. "They want to clearly stop the guns from the United States going south. We want to stop the drugs coming north," he said.

The second concern is about another equally pernicious commodity migrating north: the violence. The announcement last month that 730 people had been arrested across the US following a 21-month investigation into Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel confirms suspicions that the cartels are taking root in the US.

While a drugs strategy may be difficult to elaborate on, officials believe something can be done on guns, at least. The homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, has instructed the customs and border protection service "to find guns going south and interdict them".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/09/mexico-drugs-usa

[Hoopla Phil]

1. So is Mexico now willing to split the cost of a wall on the border?

[FreakinDJ]

2. Exactly - yet they send their poor north because the gov won't help them

The Mexican government is getting a little too pathetic

[benEzra]

3. Mexican cartels are NOT getting automatic weapons, grenades, and RPG's in the USA...

because they are not available in the USA. Central America, however, is awash with them.

Handguns and civilian rifles and shotguns are another story, but not NFA Title 2/Class III restricted military hardware.