Drug Control: Counternarcotics Efforts in Mexico.
Abstract
Mexico is the primary transit country for cocaine entering the United States from South America as well as a major source country for heroin, marijuana and, more recently, methamphetamine. U.S. law enforcement efforts in the southeastern United States and the Caribbean during the mid-1980s caused cocaine traffickers to expand routes to the drug markets in the United States. The traffickers' preferred routes were through Mexico, a country with a 2,000-mile border with the United States, a 30-year history of heroin and marijuana smuggling, and the existence of cross-border family ties. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) estimates that up to 70 percent of the cocaine entering the United States currently transits Mexico. Since 1977, we have issued four reports that examined various aspects of U.S. and Mexican efforts to control drug production and trafficking. Many of the problems discussed in those reports continue to adversely affect current drug control efforts in Mexico. In our June 1995 testimony on U.S. efforts to stop the flow of drugs from cocaine producing and transit countries, we highlighted problems in such areas as changes in the U.S. drug interdiction strategy; competing foreign policy objectives at some U.S. embassies; coordination of U.S. activities; management and oversight of U.S. assets; and willingness and ability of foreign governments to combat the drug trade. This report updates our prior work on drug control efforts in Mexico.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 12, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA314401
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office