Drug Control: Update on U.S.-Mexican Counternarcotics Activities

T-NSIAD-99-98, Mar. 4, 1999 (16 pages). Drug Control: Update on U.S.-Mexican Counternarcotics Activities, by Benjamin F. Nelson, Director, International Relations and Trade Issues, before the Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources Subcommittee, House Committee on Government Reform. [Text] [PDF]

Drugs from Mexico represent a continuing, significant threat to the United States. Mexico is one of the largest centers for narcotics-related business in the world, and Mexico remains the principal transit country for cocaine entering the United States. Mexico is either a producer, refiner, or transit point for cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, and heroin. It is also a major hub for recycling drug proceeds. Mexico's Juarez drug-trafficking organization is now as powerful and dangerous as Colombia's Medellin and Cali cartels used to be. This testimony discusses (1) Mexico's efforts to address the drug threat and (2) the status of U.S. counternarcotics assistance provided to Mexico.