Last summer, when I was elected Chair of the Conference of Western Attorneys General (CWAG), my goal was to build closer relations with our law enforcement counterparts in Mexico. I resolved to seize every opportunity possible to strengthen crime-fighting capability on both sides of the border. 

This week, when I completed my term as Chair at our summer meeting in Seattle, I was proud to report how far we have come. The commitment and ability of state Attorneys General from both countries to work more closely together has never been greater.

Forging this closer partnership ranks as a major achievement for CWAG, whose members include 15 western states and three Pacific territories. 

Much of the relationship building took place at two highly productive meetings -- the first in October in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and the second in March in Phoenix.

At the Cuernavaca meeting, we saw Mexican officials far more interested in cross-border cooperation.  We heard an encouraging update from Mexico’s Attorney General, Eduardo Medina Mora, on his country's efforts to reduce methamphetamine manufacturing and export. Mexico has placed major restrictions on the import of pseudoephedrine (the key ingredient in making meth) into Mexico and now requires prescriptions for all cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine.  These steps, along with tougher law enforcement, have diminished Mexico's meth production and reduced the amount coming across the border into the U.S.   

Six months later in Phoenix, building on the groundwork laid at our previous meeting, we announced "a new era of bi-national cooperation to fight organized crime in both countries." Those lofty words were no exaggeration. The Attorneys General in the two countries reached agreement to work more closely together in four primary areas:

• Human Trafficking and Smuggling: We agreed to a bi-national exchange of information on smuggling networks, information provided by witnesses, operational modes, money transmitters, routes and other information. We also agreed to work together to plan and execute enforcement operations.

• Drug Trafficking: We agreed to develop pilot projects to better investigate drug trafficking on both sides of the border. We further agreed to send drug traffickers caught with amounts under current U.S. federal thresholds to Mexico for prosecution.

• Money Laundering: We agreed to use investigative techniques pioneered in Arizona to aid in the prosecution of human traffickers in Mexico and to disrupt their flow of funds. We also agreed to assist Mexico with analysis of selected money transmissions from the U.S. to Mexico and other evidence related to money laundering.

• Arms Trafficking: We agreed to expand joint U.S. - Mexican undercover operations aimed at illegal arms sales, to prosecute those who sell arms illegally for transport to Mexico and to pursue an expansion of the registration requirement for multiple gun sales of weapons such as AK-47s.

Additionally, the Attorneys General agreed to work together to establish databases similar to Arizona’s THEFTAZ Web site in order to provide timely information about stolen vehicles to law enforcement on both sides of the border.

Another significant step affirmed at the Phoenix meeting was broadening a provision in the Mexican Constitution which treats crimes committed in other countries as if they were crimes in Mexico. This provision, called “Article 4,” previously had been limited to criminal prosecutions but now will be used as the basis for joint investigations. This change has exciting long-term possibilities to keep criminals from using the international border as protection.

Last week, Baja California Attorney General Rommel Moreno Manjarrez and I formalized these agreements in a memorandum of understanding between our two states.  This agreement outlines our commitment to create a law enforcement exchange and training program, share information and investigation techniques on human trafficking cases and establish a task force on Internet crimes against children.  I will travel to Hermosillo, Sonora, next week to sign a similar agreement with Sonoran Attorney General Abel Murrieta Gutiérrez.

Fighting the criminal cartels that operate along the U.S. - Mexico border is a challenge that requires commitment by all law enforcement in the region.  Earlier this year, the U.S. federal government joined Mexico’s Attorney General to establish a partnership in these efforts at the federal level.  The $1.4 billion Merida Initiative is a multi-year program that provides equipment and other support to U.S. and Mexican law enforcement agencies fighting these criminal enterprises and preventing the flow of weapons, drugs and human cargo across our border.   As part of this program, CWAG will provide training on trial practice to Mexican prosecutors.

The new partnership we have established with Mexico's federal and state Attorneys General promises to invigorate crime-fighting efforts on both sides of the border between the United States and Mexico

Terry Goddard