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The Obama administration plans to boost the law-enforcement presence at the U.S.-Mexico border in hopes of stemming the flood of drugs north and guns heading south as Mexico’s police and army wage a bloody battle with drug cartels.
MSNBC reported March 24 that the plan calls for doubling the number of border enforcement security teams on duty, adding 16 new DEA agents in the southwest, and temporarily adding 100 extra Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives personnel at the border.
Most of the guns used by Mexican drug gangs fighting police and each other originated in the U.S.
The administration also is considering a request to send U.S. troops to the border to counter any surge of drug-related violence in border states.
“The president is concerned by the increased level of violence … and the impact that it is having on communities on both sides of the border,” according to a White House statement.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is about to leave for Mexico on a mission to discuss drug policy and other issues with Mexican leaders.
Published
March 2009