U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Urges Stepped-Up Fight Against International Drug Cartels

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today called for an increased federal focus on strengthening security along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Speaking at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, the Arizona lawmaker noted that the U.S. Department of Justice considers Mexican drug traffickers the "greatest organized crime threat" to the United States.

"I remain very concerned about stemming the flow of fugitives, drugs and guns across our southern border," Giffords told committee members.

The Justice Department, in its recent "National Drug Threat Assessment," estimated that the combination of Mexican and Colombian drug trafficking organizations generate, remove and launder between $18 billion and $39 billion in drug proceeds annually.

Giffords' 8th Congressional District in Southeastern Arizona is one of only 10 districts nationwide that share a border with Mexico. Last month in Tucson she hosted a multi-agency community briefing on federal drug interdiction policies. The speaker was Admiral Thad Allen, the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and head of the Drug Interdiction Committee.

At today's hearing, Giffords said that the use of stored value cards to transfer money across the border is a new concern of local law enforcement officers. Such cards, similar to credit or debit cards, can be used to withdraw cash from ATMs, Giffords said.

"Remarkably, stored value cards are largely unregulated by the U.S. Department of Treasury," said Giffords, who is working with the Treasury and the House Financial Services Committee to draft a bill that would correct this oversight.

Today's hearing was held to take testimony on the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission Act, which Giffords cosponsored. The act would create an independent commission to evaluate U.S. policies and programs aimed at reducing illicit drug supply and demand. The commission would be required to submit recommendations on future U.S. drug policy to Congress, the Secretary of State and the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

According to testimony at today's hearing, the United States accounts for approximately 5 percent of world population but has an estimated 17.2 percent of the world's users of illegal drugs, according to 2007 estimates.

Latin America is the region with the most countries supplying the United States with illicit drugs. Mexico, through which 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States has transited for the past few years, also is a major supplier of heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana, according to testimony to the committee.

Mexican drug trafficking organizations are extremely violent, battling against one another and a government crackdown. Since December 2006, more than 11,000 people have been killed in the violence.

While the kidnappings and murders have not yet crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in the same scope that has occurred in Mexico, this threat remains a possibility.

"This Congress must continue to work to address this crisis in a comprehensive way," Giffords said.

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