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 News from Around the Americas | October 2007 
Drug Czar Promotes Combined Efforts
 Anna Cearley - San Diego Union-Tribune
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| | John Walters, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, speaks during a press conference in Mexico City, 2004. US and Mexican joint efforts to disrupt the illegal narcotics trade have significantly cut the flow of cocaine into the United States, forcing the price to double in some areas, the White House drugs czar said. (AFP/Juan Barreto) |
San Diego Citing figures that indicate a decrease in cocaine supplies in the United States, U.S. drug czar John Walters said yesterday that sustaining the trend requires more collaboration between U.S. agencies and their Mexican counterparts.
The kind of momentum we have going into this, we have not had before, said Walters, speaking in San Diego during the Southwest Border Conference, a two-day meeting of top-level federal, state and local law enforcement agents.
Walters' visit comes as the Bush administration is creating a comprehensive, multimillion-dollar plan to help Mexico combat drug cartels. Walters declined to elaborate, but stressed the plan's importance.
We think we have an opportunity to save untold lives, untold destruction to our communities and untold destruction to the institutions in Mexico, said Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Along the border, U.S. authorities are fighting the drug trade through the National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy project, Walters said. The plan, which will cost about $2 billion for this fiscal year, includes increased emphasis on aerial surveillance, intelligence gathering and money-laundering investigations.
While Walters thinks the efforts can affect drug supplies, he also credited Mexico's efforts to crack down on cartels.
Cocaine prices increased 67 percent or more in 12 U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, during the first six months of 2007, according to previously shared data from Walters' office.
Statistics from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration indicate a 24 percent overall increase in cocaine prices in that same period, he said.
San Diego, meanwhile, hasn't shown an increase in cocaine prices. DEA officials said that might be because the border city typically has more supplies in stock because it's so close to Mexico.
In 2005, Walters made a similar announcement about a rise in cocaine prices, and attributed it to U.S.-funded drug interdiction efforts in Colombia. The increase was short-lived, and critics said the statistics were used for political purposes.
Walters said yesterday that those findings were accurate. The current trend is even more significant because it has lasted longer and is being documented in multiple ways, he said.
Can we sustain it? he asked. That's the question that we face, and that's why we are here to try and combine our efforts.
Anna Cearley: (619) 542-4595; anna.cearley@uniontrib.com |
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