Archive image of three members of a criminal group dedicated to arms and drug trafficking in Mexico. Eduardo Verdugo (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Mexico goes a step further to try to combat the illegal trafficking of drugs and firearms in the country.
The Government of the country will create a presidential commission to deal with the problem, according to the decree that has been published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF).
The mandate, which enters into force this Thursday, will mean the creation of a working group made up of seven of the 20 Secretaries of the Executive, in addition to the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, which will have a voice, but no vote in the meetings.
"The purpose of the commission is to function as a special working group to monitor the actions carried out by the agencies and entities of the Federal Public Administration," the decree states.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will be the head of the working group, which means that he will be able to call or request the sessions;
In addition, his vote will serve to reach an agreement in the event of a supposed tie between the components.
The working group will include heads of seven Ministries, not only those in charge of the country's security: the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), the Ministry of the Interior, Foreign Affairs, Defense (Sedena), the Navy, Health, and the of the Treasury and Public Credit —through the heads of the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Federal Prosecutor's Office.
In this way, the López Obrador Administration tries to address two of the issues that have been a constant conflict for different Mexican Executives: arms trafficking and drug trafficking —among which is fentanyl, the synthetic drug that has monopolized the headlines in recent months.
The illegal drug trade has been in the government's spotlight, especially in recent weeks, after the US conservative wing put pressure on it and fueled the discussion around this matter.
In recent weeks, Republicans have once again tried to label the Mexican cartels as "terrorist groups," an initiative that, if approved, would empower the US military to combat them within the Mexican border.
López Obrador has criticized these interventionist proposals, going so far as to brand the Republicans as "wimps."
In addition, he has led to a barrage of references to the US on drugs.
The announcement that starting next year NBA players will be able to smoke marijuana without fear of sanctions was intercepted by López Obrador as an example of what does not work in his neighbor to the north.
“[They do not] strengthen moral, cultural and spiritual values;
Nor do they limit drug use, on the contrary, they encourage it even in sports.
It is painful and decadent ”, he commented through his Twitter account.
He was not the only one from the Executive.
Given the repeated disagreements, the Undersecretary of Health, Hugo López-Gatell, maintained last Tuesday the government position that fentanyl trafficking is not part of the Mexican border,
The fight against the illegal trade in firearms ("and their ammunition", as the DOF specifies) has also been an open wound in Mexico.
López Obrador has dealt with the fight against arms trafficking through diplomatic channels and through the courts.
In 2021, he began a legal fight to bring 11 giants of the arms industry to justice, where he claimed the "negligent and illegal commercial practices" of these manufacturers, for facilitating "illegal arms trafficking to Mexico."
He filed a complaint with a Massachusetts court, which ended up dismissing the lawsuit last September.
The Government of Mexico filed an appeal to the court's decision, taking the lawsuit to another US entity, in an Arizona court.
Last March, 18 US territories — along with various security authorities, organizations and governments from other countries — joined the appeal filed by the López Obrador Executive.
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