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 News from Around the Americas | January 2007 
DEA Wants More Offices in Mexico
 Dennis Wagner - Arizona Republic
| | An image released by the Drug Enforcement Administration on January 16, 2007 shows sandals used by drug traffickers to smuggle cocaine and heroin. A Colombian drug ring was shut down on Tuesday with the arrest of 117 of its suspected members, the DEA said. (Reuters) |
The Drug Enforcement Administration has asked Mexican authorities to approve a new DEA office in Nogales, Sonora, and two other border cities as part of the ongoing campaign to combat narcotics smuggling.
Steve Robertson, a spokesman at DEA headquarters in Washington, D.C., said the proposal is still under consideration by federal officials in Mexico City:
"There's no official, final decision, so, basically, we have to decline comment," Robertson added. "It would be up to the Mexicans to make a formal announcement."
In addition to Nogales, Robertson said, additional offices are proposed in Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo, two Mexican communities dominated by the violent Gulf Cartel. All three border cities are notorious drug-trafficking centers.
The DEA has 86 offices in 63 countries, with 81 employees in Mexico. Those assigned overseas typically work as liaison officers with law enforcement agents in host nations, exchanging intelligence rather than conducting complete investigations. Robertson said adding stations along the border represents a refined strategy rather than a response to increased trafficking. He noted that liaison agents in Mexico have been instrumental in developing cases against smuggling cartels.
The DEA now has offices in Hermosillo, the Sonoran capital, in the Mexican border cities of Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez and elsewhere in Mexico. But there are none along the Arizona border.
In August testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, a Phoenix-based DEA agent said most of the cocaine, methamphetamines and foreign marijuana smuggled into the United States arrives from Mexico via the Southwest border.
John S. Comer, assistant special agent in charge for Arizona, said Mexican cartels have become so potent that "they now control most of the primary drug distribution centers in the U.S., including . . . Phoenix."
Comer noted that efforts are underway to increase exchanges with Mexico. He stressed that border intelligence work - often relying on confidential sources - is the most effective way to identify key players and break up cartels.
Robertson said international DEA offices typically seek to maintain a low profile, and the agency does not divulge how many agents are assigned. Those based in the new border offices would report to the DEA special agent in charge in Mexico City.
Reach the reporter at dennis.wagner@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8874. |
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