US and Mexico tout ‘historic’ security cooperation as DEA, Mexican officials meet in Washington

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson has once again taken to social media to extol the security relationship between the United States and Mexico.

“Historic cooperation between our two countries, driven by @POTUS @realDonaldTrump and President @Claudiashein [Claudia Sheinbaum], continues to deliver real results,” he wrote on X on Monday.

“As our coordination and collaboration grow stronger, we will keep dismantling networks that traffic drugs and weapons, strengthening the security of our nations and saving lives,” Johnson added.

In his post, the ambassador included a message from Mexican Security Minister Omar García Harfuch, who on Monday met with the administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Washington, D.C.

In his X post, García Harfuch wrote that he spoke with DEA chief Terrance Cole “about the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation in order to combat drug trafficking, curb the trafficking of weapons to our country and reduce the violence in our country with important arrests.”

“Following the instructions of President @Claudiashein, we will continue strengthening international cooperation,” he added.

The DEA also commented on the meeting between García Harfuch and Cole via its official X account.

“#DEA Administrator Cole, during a visit with Omar García Harfuch, Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection of #Mexico, discusses cross-border collaboration in the fight against drug trafficking and safer communities on both sides of the border,” the agency wrote above a photo of the two officials. 

Johnson, a former Green Beret, CIA officer and ambassador to El Salvador, has used his X account on several occasions to tout the security cooperation between the United States and Mexico.

Last Friday, he wrote that “our two countries are working 24/7 against organized crime through the historic cooperation advanced by @POTUS @realDonaldTrump and President @ClaudiaShein.”

“This cooperation is delivering real results: safer communities on both sides of the border. When our countries collaborate and coordinate, criminals have nowhere to hide,” Johnson added.

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The current Mexican government has taken a more proactive and aggressive approach to combating organized crime, and has transferred dozens of cartel figures to the United States to face justice. Sheinbaum frequently speaks about the high levels of security cooperation between her government and the Trump administration, but she is vehemently opposed to the use of the U.S. military in Mexico to combat cartels.

After the death of Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes in a Mexican military operation on Feb. 22 in Tapalpa, Jalisco, Johnson published a statement to his X account in which he wrote that “bilateral cooperation has reached unprecedented levels” under the leadership of Trump and Sheinbuam.

U.S. intelligence helped Mexican authorities locate Oseguera, according to the Mexican and U.S. governments.

In another X post last Friday, Johnson wrote that “under the shared commitment of @POTUS @realDonaldTrump and President @ClaudiaShein, our countries are taking decisive bilateral action to disarm the transnational cartels threatening communities on both sides of the border.”

The ambassador also wrote that during the second Trump administration, “U.S. agents have intercepted 4,500 Mexico-bound guns and 650,000 rounds of ammunition.”

However, citing “gun traffickers,” The New York Times reported on Tuesday that an “unprecedented amount of weapons” are flowing south into Mexico.

The Times also noted that “Mexican authorities estimate that as many as 500,000 guns are smuggled from the United States into Mexico each year.”

In addition, the newspaper quoted a 17-year-old Phoenix-based arms trafficker as saying that moving weapons into Mexico is easy, despite increased surveillance and enforcement on both sides of the border.

“No one stops you unless you run a red light,” the young trafficker told the Times.

Late last month, García Harfuch told reporters that approximately 80% of the guns seized in Mexico during the current term of government came from the United States.

U.S.-sourced firearms are used in a majority of the high-impact crimes in Mexico, including homicides perpetrated by members of notorious drug cartels.

Mexico News Daily 

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