On Wednesday, the administration appointed a Border Czar to deal with the drug problems at the border. Now President Obama is taking it up another notch. Hopefully the administration can sustain its campaign to help the Mexicans battle the dangerous cartels.
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — President Obama yesterday ratcheted up efforts to curb the flow of drugs and guns across the southern border, imposing financial sanctions against three of the most violent Mexican drug cartels and threatening to prosecute Americans who do business with them.
On the eve of his summit with Mexican President Felipe Calderón today, Obama added the cartels to the list of banned foreign “drug kingpins,” a move that empowers the federal government to seize their assets, estimated to be in the billions of dollars. It also allows the government to seek criminal penalties against U.S. firms or individuals who provide weapons, launder money or transport drugs or cash for the organizations.
By targeting the cartels — Sinaloa, Los Zetas and La Familia Michoacana — the administration expanded its support for Calderón’s crackdown on the narco-traffickers, an effort that has provoked a violent backlash and led to thousands of deaths in the past two years.
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