Press. voanews.com
México and the United States are seeking to forge closer ties to fight
arms trafficking and organized crime, Mexico's interior minister said on
Friday, as he and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly vowed to redouble
efforts to battle drug cartels. “We're looking at new forms of cooperation on issues like arms
trafficking ... and obviously combating international criminal organizations
dedicated to drug trafficking,” Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong
told a news conference.
Osorio Chong did not provide details as he spoke alongside Kelly, who
was coming to the end of a three-day visit to Mexico. Kelly, who on Thursday traveled to one of Mexico's most lawless regions
to discuss the military's efforts to battle drug traffickers and observe opium
poppy eradication, said the two sides aimed to strengthen joint security
cooperation.
“We are also working together to defeat the scourge of illegal drugs,
with special emphasis on the heroin, cocaine and fentanyl that is flooding the hemisphere
and resulting in deaths in both of our countries,” Kelly said. U.S. deaths from opiates including fentanyl and heroin have risen
sharply in the last few years, putting the issue at center stage in efforts to
strengthen cooperation on security matters between Mexico and the United
States.
Kelly said U.S. President Donald Trump aimed to create “stronger,
durable bonds” between the two neighbors, which have been at odds on some areas
of policy under Trump, particularly the Republican leader's plan to build a
wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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