Tuesday, November 19

Mexico launches shielding in its ports against organized crime

Manzanillo is the main port of Mexico and through which an estimated 10,000 containers transit per day
Manzanillo is the main port of Mexico and through which an estimated 10,000 containers transit per day

Photo: OMAR TORRES / AFP / Getty Images

The opinion

By: The opinion Posted 06 Sep 2023, 19:20 pm EDT

The Secretary of the Navy and the Mexican Foreign Ministry gave the flag to the Container Control Program in the Port of Manzanillowhich reinforces the combat illegal merchandise trafficking and organized crime.

In a ceremony led by the Secretary of the Navy in Mexico, Admiral José Rafael Ojeda Durán, explained that it was decided to go one step further”In order to achieve greater security and shielding of the country’s seaports.”

📸 At the launch of the #PCC🇲🇽, in the port of Manzanillo, Foreign Minister @aliciabarcena pointed out that “there is more trade, but legal trade, and for that we need a very specific control of everything that is illegal and it affects us as a country and as a world.” pic.twitter.com/g1sbwWHCj3

– Foreign Relations (@SRE_mx) September 6, 2023

“Through the implementation of the Container Control Program, same as a few months ago it was a commitment, today it is a reality. So as a nation we join the global agreement to minimize the use of containers in seaports and airports and land border crossings for illicit drug trafficking and other activities of transnational organized crime.”

“We are definitely a privileged maritime nation, For this reason, we promote its maximum growth and development, placing our country in the place that it deserves and deserves on the international stage. We do it assuming the national and global challenges that they entail from renewed cooperation actions both inter-institutional and bilateral, regional and multinational”.

Meanwhile, Kristian Hölge, representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Mexico, noted that Manzanillo receives more than 70% of imports from Asia into the country and is the third busiest port in Latin Americaso this program is highly relevant and a logistical challenge.

“If they are all checked, 10,000 containers a day would have to be checked every day of the year, an impossible mission, so intelligent cooperation is necessary, not checking any container but detecting the right container,” he said.

While, In her first official act as Chancellor, Alicia Bárcena warned that approximately 90% of international trade is carried out in maritime containersof which only 2% are inspected.

▶️ Relive the participation of Foreign Minister @aliciabarcena during the presentation of the implementation of the Container Control Program and the closing of the Diploma in Law of the Sea and Maritime, for the Delivery and Administration of Justice, in Manzanillo, Colima.… pic.twitter .com/Cc5orHPZR5

– Foreign Relations (@SRE_mx) September 6, 2023

“And that is why the fact that we have the remaining 98% of containers that have not been explored or cannot be inspected, well, we have an arduous task there, which is to develop.”

In addition, the United States ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, stated that Mexico and the United States must recognize each other as partners.

“The weapons come from here (the United States) and cause a lot of violence in Mexico,” he acknowledged.

Keep reading:

  • Marina seizes 2,000 pounds of cocaine off the coast of Acapulco, southern Mexico
  • Organized crime challenges the Mexican State with drones
  • They record shooting between sailors and hitmen in Tamaulipas in broad daylight and on a busy avenue