Sealing a joint commitment to attack the supply chain, the U.S. and Mexico have targeted two cartels to stem the flow of both fentanyl and illegal firearms across their borders.

In a meeting at the White House, Mexican and U.S. officials said that they will spare no effort to end the flow of fentanyl and dismantle the organizations behind its manufacture and distribution, such as the Sinaloa and the Jalisco New Generation cartels.

Marcelo Ebrard, Secretary of Foreign Relations of Mexico, said through a statement shared with DW:

The instruction we have is to identify what are the additional actions that we can take so that the Bicentennial Agreement has better results in two indicators: Reduction of fentanyl and deaths from fentanyl, and reduction of violence in Mexico due to firearms.

Operation North to South

In a joint effort known as Operation North to South, led by the United States, it allows for the cooperation in investigations related to arms trafficking, and increased tracing and seizure of weapons in recognized trafficking corridors. The Biden Administration has also promised to lead greater efforts to stop the escalation of arms trafficking.

#ReuniónTrilateral
Nos reunimos con Elizabeth Sherwood Randall @LSRTweets, asesora de Seguridad Nacional de #EEUU, y Jody Thomas, asesora de Seguridad Nacional e Inteligencia de #Canadá, para trabajar juntas contra el tráfico de drogas sintéticas y de armas. pic.twitter.com/L9axrJpOKj

— Rosa Icela Rodríguez Velázquez (@rosaicela_) April 13, 2023

During the meeting, U.S. National Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall and Attorney General Merrick Garland agreed to increase cooperation to combat arms trafficking into Mexico.

On fentanyl, both countries agreed to create a panel of experts focused on overdose prevention campaigns, while raising awareness among the population about the dangers of the substance.

In a video posted on Twitter, Ebrard said Mexico will seek to drastically reduce the flow of chemical precursors that produce fentanyl to Mexico and the U.S.

Resultados del diálogo sobre seguridad que tuvo lugar hoy en Washington, DC. pic.twitter.com/7M4qSDxvZn

— Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) April 13, 2023

Recently, the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said that these types of substances reach North America from Asia — a message addressed to Republicans in the U.S. who insist that the U.S. Army should receive permission to intervene in areas that they deem are under the control of illegal groups and where synthetic drugs are manufactured without any restriction.

With the agreements that came out of the latest meeting, the hope is that tensions between the two countries can calm over the border.

The Canadian government also joined the meeting through Jody Thomas, one of its main intelligence advisers.