| | |  Americas & Beyond | June 2009 
US to Ramp Up Intel Efforts in Drug War
 Agence France-Presse
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June 08, 2009
 |  | Mexican and Colombian cartels make an estimated 18-39 billion dollars in drug proceeds each year according to US estimates. |  | | |
The United States will step up intelligence efforts aimed at stemming the illicit flow of drugs, guns and cash across the border with Mexico, according to a White House strategy paper soon to be sent to Congress.
The strategy, drawn up by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, calls for wide-ranging improvements to intelligence gathering and analysis that can be used by law enforcement units.
"Agencies should consider deploying additional intelligence analysts from headquarters-type roles into frontline operational organizations to facilitate the linking of intelligence to operations," the report said.
"Law enforcement customers in the counternarcotics and homeland security communities need 'actionable' intelligence. Greater emphasis must be placed on ensuring that intelligence products contain valid operational links or leads."
The report noted that in coming years, "the focus of these intelligence programs will be on improving and integrating the flow of timely and relevant intelligence and analysis."
The strategy comes amid fears that Mexico's bloody drug war may spill over the border and terrorists could use drug routes to carry out an attack on the United States.
"The routes and methods of existing smuggling organizations could potentially be utilized to transport terrorists or weapons of terror across the border," the 77-page report warns.
Mexican drug cartels have become ever-stronger in recent years as they tighten their grip on lucrative trade routes to the United States -- the world's largest consumer of cocaine.
In 2008, an estimated 6,000 people were killed in Mexico in drug-related violence, as cartels fought each other over turf and with the government, which has enlisted the army in a bid to overpower the gangs.
Mexican and Colombian cartels make an estimated 18-39 billion dollars in drug proceeds each year according to US estimates.
The strategy, which was announced on Friday, is part of President Barack Obama's vow to step up US efforts to combat the trade across the southwestern US border, amid criticism from Mexico than much of the cash and weapons used by cartels come from the United States.
It calls for US agencies to "enhance coordination of intelligence sharing with Mexico," including tip-offs from financial crimes agencies on both sides of the border.
One proposed measure is the reestablishment of a inter-agency group -- led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) -- that would oversee how intelligence is managed.
Much of the document focuses on improving the flow of sensitive information between the myriad of often competing US government departments.
It also deals with the logistical and technical challenge of monitoring the 43 legal -- and scores of illegal -- border crossings that pock the frontier between the two countries.
The strategy would see an increased focus on technology, with a host of detection devices and databases being used interdict traffickers and their cargo.
One particular target for new technology is the cartel's use of underground transportation tunnels, which could also be used to transport weapons for a terrorist attack.
"Subterranean passages represent a unique and growing threat to the homeland," the report states.
According to US government figures 24 such tunnels were discovered in 2008, including one which "had ventilation, drainage, and lighting systems, as well as a cement floor and a pulley system." |
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