Reuters AlertNet Lite - Mexico says it will run anti-drug ops under US plan

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Mexico says it will run anti-drug ops under US plan

09 Aug 2007 23:05:39 GMT
Source: Reuters

MEXICO CITY, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Mexico will not allow American agents to run anti-drugs operations south of the border under a new plan for U.S. aid worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Mexico's attorney general said on Thursday.

Mexico, historically sensitive about U.S. interference in its affairs, is in talks with Washington about an aid package to help it fight increasingly violent drug gangs.

Attorney general Eduardo Medina Mora said he welcomed aid in the form of cash and surveillance equipment but that Mexicans would run all crime fighting functions.

"There will be no intervention in operations by external institutions," he told Mexican radio.

Mexican drug gangs fighting for control of trafficking routes to the United States, have killed around 1,500 people this year.

President Felipe Calderon wants more help from the United States, the main market for the South American cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines that pour across the border.

"The level of cooperation we've had in the last few years doesn't come close to matching the scale of the problem," Medina Mora said.

Calderon has deployed some 25,000 soldiers to try to regain control of lawless areas of Mexico where cartels have had an almost free rein.

Under the new plan, which may be announced at an Aug. 20-21 presidential summit in Canada and is subject to U.S. Congressional approval, the Washington could provide radar equipment, phone tapping technology and technical training.

The package under discussion is being compared to an aid program to Colombia, which has absorbed $4 billion since 2000.

In Colombia, U.S. troops have trained the Colombian army and defense department contractors flew planes to destroy crops used to make narcotics.

It would be difficult for U.S. security forces to operate so openly in Mexico, where feelings still run high over a 19th century war when the United States grabbed large parts of Mexican territory, including Texas and California.

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Last updated:Thu Aug 9 23:06:32 2007