Recommended
U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson asked Mexican authorities on Wednesday to seize the resources of criminal organizations dedicated to drug trafficking and to combat corruption, a practice that, he warned, "drives away investment."
The diplomat maintained, during the opening of the CI-FIRST International Financial Crimes Forum, that attacking the cartels' finances makes it possible to strike "the very heart of their criminal networks."
"If we take away their drugs, they may try to replace them; if we take away their weapons, they may try to buy more, but when we take away the money that makes everything else possible, we hit them in the very heart of their criminal networks," he stated.
Johnson noted that joint actions between the United States and Mexico, promoted by President Donald Trump and President Claudia Sheinbaum, are an example of "cooperation that yields results and closes off spaces to the cartels."
He explained that both governments carry out operations, arrests, and seizures, but he called for expanding actions against the resources of criminal organizations "at all stages," as well as against the networks and individuals that facilitate their operations.
The ambassador also highlighted the joint fight against corruption, a practice that, he said, "drives away investment, hurts citizens, and generates insecurity."
He stated that previously, governments worked separately and a single country could not cover the entire criminal network, whereas the cooperation between Mexico, the United States, and other international partners now makes it possible to close more spaces to the cartels.
Before, Johnson recounted, "the cartels believed that by crossing borders and laundering resources they were protecting themselves, but today we tell them no, no more, we have only just begun and we are going after more of their resources and more of their criminal networks."
The statements come one week after the diplomat reported that the United States had handed over to Mexico 10 people sought by Mexican authorities for serious crimes.
"Ten more fugitives face justice in Mexico," Johnson wrote on his X account, where he specified that the wanted individuals are related to cases of kidnapping, drug and arms-related crimes, as well as activities linked to drug cartels.
The ambassador did not release their names nor specify the individual accusations or the legal mechanism used for their handover.
Johnson had also reported on July 30 that more than 300 fugitives sought by Mexico had been returned from the United States, within the framework of bilateral security cooperation. EFE
[Publicidad]