CONGRESS AIMS TO POLICE BORDER VIOLENCE

WASHINGTON -- The number of federal agents trying to keep drugs and
illegal immigrants out of the U.S. has more than doubled in five
years. Congress now wants those sentinels to keep watch in both
directions -- to stop the smuggling of U.S. guns and cash to Mexico.

Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Tuesday urged officials
from the Department of Homeland Security to halt the flow of weapons
and drug profits that has fueled the violence by Mexico's drug gangs.

At a hearing, some lawmakers expressed disappointment at the lack of
a specific plan from Homeland Security officials to attack the
problem, which has claimed thousands of lives. The ranking Republican
on the House Appropriations Committee, California Rep. Jerry Lewis,
compared the task to the challenge facing the U.S. in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has said
tackling the issue is a top priority. But officials who lead the two
biggest DHS agencies involved -- Customs and Border Protection, and
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement -- said in interviews they don't
have funding currently designated for so-called outbound enforcement.

Rep. Hal Rogers, the top Republican on the Homeland Security
Appropriations Subcommittee, which held Tuesday's hearing, said U.S.
officials are "burying our heads in the sands of Cancun."

One angry Democrat, Rep. Sam Farr of California, threatened to hold
up the department's funding until there is a coordinated plan for
going after the guns.

The Mexican government is fighting a war with its drug cartels and
their armed enforcers. The gangs are battling for access routes to
the lucrative U.S. market and much of the violence straddles the
border. The fighting is being waged with thousands of
American-purchased or stolen weapons flowing south illegally each
year, U.S. officials say. The State Department recently estimated
U.S.-originated guns were used in 95% of Mexico's drug-related
killings. The number of such murders more than doubled to almost
6,000 last year, up from about 2,700 in 2007. Meanwhile, U.S.
authorities seized only 257 weapons heading south at border
checkpoints in 2008 -- and a total of just 733 dating back to the
start of 2005, according to data Homeland Security officials provided
to The Wall Street Journal.

The fighting is also fueled by the cash earned by Mexican gangs
selling their illicit products in the U.S. The State Department
estimated that as much as $22 billion in drug proceeds were sent from
the U.S. to Mexico between 2003 and the end of last year, much of it
through bulk-cash smuggling. Since July 2005, teams established by
ICE to take on drug-cartel operations along the border have seized a
total of $22.7 million in cash, a fraction of the estimated drug profits.

The teams received $10 million in the budget for the year ended Sept.
30, 2008, but nothing since, officials said Tuesday. Ms. Napolitano
has promised a total of $45 million more for border protection next
year, but it's unclear how much of that would be directed toward
stemming the flow of guns and money to Mexico.

A separate hearing Tuesday focused on foreign assistance for Mexico's
drug war under the so-called Merida Initiative. The plan, instituted
under President George W. Bush, has directed $1.4 billion in aid to
Mexico, mostly through training and equipment. Obama administration
officials say they are committed to the deal.

Justice Department officials recently touted a nationwide campaign
targeting Mexico's Sinaloa cartel operations in the U.S., arresting
more than 50 alleged members from California to Maryland on one day
last month. Calling it "Operation Xcellerator," the department
tallied more than 750 arrests in the U.S. and Mexico over the past 21
months and the seizure of more than $59 million in illicit proceeds.

Law-enforcement officials acknowledge that the Mexican and U.S.
governments have yet to gain the upper hand against these groups'
U.S. operations, which reach coast to coast, from dealers in small
towns in Maine to big-city coordinators in Southern California.

Drug Enforcement Administration officials estimate the Xcellerator
operation cost the Sinaloa cartel $1 billion, including drug
seizures. That figure is an estimate of what the cartel would have
earned from the disrupted drug sales.