The second High-level Dialogue on Disrupting Transnational Criminal Organizations concluded today in Washington, D.C. At the meeting, officials assessed the progress made in recent months and the challenges our countries face in this area.
For Mexico, the dialogue was headed by Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray, Interior Secretary Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong and Acting Attorney General Alberto Elías Beltrán. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen and Attorney General Jeff Sessions participated for the United States. Officials from Mexican and U.S. agencies involved in law enforcement also took part.
Regarding the second High-level Dialogue on Disrupting Transnational Criminal Organizations, Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray pointed out that criminal organizations don't recognize borders and cause deaths in both Mexico and the United States. He commented that "only by attacking all the links of the business chain will we be successful in eliminating this scourge that today is harming both countries and is a problem that we will only be able to overcome if we work together."
Interior Secretary Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong said that the challenges must be approached from a comprehensive perspective, which reduces the supply of and demand for drugs but also restricts financing, the weapons and the logistical capacity of the criminal organizations.
Mexico's Acting Attorney General Alberto Elías Beltrán said that both countries "are facing a problem from transnational criminal organizations. An efficient exchange of information will allow us to identify all points in the organizations' value chains in order to impact their financial structures."
Both countries' officials agreed on the need to dismantle the entire value chain of the criminal business, from the cultivation and production of drugs and synthetic substances, their distribution in the United States and Mexico, and their sale and use, to the income produced by the illicit activity. They also reiterated that it is vitally important to attack related activities such as arms trafficking and cash flows.
At the press conference, Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan acknowledged that the thriving demand for drugs in the United States is a problem "that we can't sweep under the rug." He noted that 64,000 people died in the U.S. last year from drug overdoses.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said that the United States is proud to call Mexico its partner "in targeting this threat and dismantling the networks that affect not only Mexico and the United States, but Central America. Together we can be leaders in the entire region to combat this threat."
At the meeting, the Mexican Interior Secretary and the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security signed an agreement to exchange information about individuals with criminal records.
The meeting is a reflection of both countries' commitment to making progress with the various aspects of the bilateral relationship, in particular, their intention to deal with transnational criminal organizations with shared responsibility and mutual trust.