Drug War:

U.S. BORDER REPS WORKING WITH MEXICO

Good news is that, along the border, there seems to be increased
cooperation between local officials here and those as far south as
Mexico City in regard to fighting Mexico's drug cartels.

Mexican cartels produce the drugs, and we've been blaming Mexico for
that.

We have the appetite for drugs, and Mexico blames us for
that.

We wish the quest for solutions to that dilemma would carry north to
Washington D.C. and become more of a national priority, right along
with our dilemma of securing our borders from terrorists.

Locally, things were coming together this week. It seems like a
semblance of a pact is forming.

U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, was among a U.S. Congressional
delegation that met with the Mexican Congress to discuss how the U.S.
can help Mexican President Felipe Calderon and his federal, physical
war on drug cartels.

Meanwhile, Jose Reyes Ferriz was sworn in as the new mayor of Juarez
Wednesday, and from early indications, and with praise from El Paso
Mayor John Cook, it appears cooperation on several fronts is in order.

To top it off, there is a new chief of the Drug Enforcement
Administration office in El Paso, and he put the U.S./Mexico narcotics
situations under a spotlight for all to understand. John "Jack" Riley
emphasized that El Paso is a central point in the web of drug trade.

To a large extent, large amounts of drugs come into the U.S. through
here and the ill-gained drug money goes back to Mexico through here.

Riley made an important point about a new major concern: "Heroin can
now be smoked or snorted. The taboo of using needles and the fear of
AIDS or hepatitis is no more, so it's attracted new users."

Congressmen like Reyes, along with local mayors like Cook and Reyes
Ferriz in border cities, are banding with the DEA and other agencies
that deal with our major problem with illegal drug use.

Calderon is the first Mexican president to go after drug cartels in a
physical way. The Mexican military is actively burning poppy and
marijuana fields and has been somewhat successful in capturing cartel
leaders.

It's time that the U.S. officially teams with Calderon.

It appears the U.S. Congressional delegation that met in Mexico City
Tuesday, which included our congressman, is a good step in that direction.

It appears there will be El Paso-Juarez cooperation. Border cities
must do that.

Let it be a signal to Washington that it will take teamwork from both
countries to crack the drug cartels.