|
|
|
 News from Around the Americas | January 2008 
Stemming the Flow of US Firearms to Mexico
 Antonio O. Garza - U.S. Ambassador to Mexico
 |  | According to Antonio O. Garza, the US government is increasing its efforts to stem the illegal flow of firearms to Mexico, deprive drug trafficking organizations of firearms and reduce gun-related violence on both sides of the US-Mexico border. |  | | | |
Statement made by US Ambassador Antonio O. Garza in Mexico City on January 16, 2008:
Today I am announcing that the US government is increasing its ongoing efforts to stem the illegal flow of firearms to Mexico, to deprive drug trafficking organizations of firearms and to reduce gun-related violence on both sides of the US-Mexico border.
As part of Project Gunrunner, announced today by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), eTrace technology will be used in all nine US consulates in Mexico to help trace firearms.
Using eTrace technology bolsters the capacity of law enforcement agencies to identify patterns of drug traffickers and other criminal organizations bringing guns into Mexico from the United States.
In addition, eTrace assists criminal investigators to develop leads and prosecute firearms traffickers and straw purchasers (people who knowingly purchase guns for prohibited persons) even before they cross the border.
The eTrace technology was recently installed in US consulates in Monterrey, Hermosillo and Guadalajara, with additional deliveries to all the remaining US consulates in Mexico planned by March 2008. We also are in discussions with the government of Mexico to create a Spanish-language version of eTrace for use by law enforcement agencies in Mexico.
Project Gunrunner will also focus ATF's investigative, intelligence and training expertise to suppress firearms trafficking to Mexico, with additional special agents, industry operations investigators and intelligence research specialists in the United States assigned to combat firearms trafficking to Mexico.
The continued expansion of our enforcement and strategic efforts on the US-Mexico border, in partnership with the government of Mexico and other US agencies, will deny firearms to criminal organizations and combat gun-related violence and homicides on both sides of the US - Mexico border. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us