Our International Efforts: Canada and Mexico
Shutting down methamphetamine super-labs is a high priority of the National Drug
Control Strategy. One of the best ways to do that is to deprive producers of easy access to bulk
quantities of pseudoephedrine.
Canada is the dominant source of pseudoephedrine due to the lack of regulatory controls
on precursor chemicals. Certain Canadian drug companies imported large amounts of cheap
powdered pseudoephedrine from China, India, and Germany, and pressed the substance into
tablets for sale. Once in tablet form, the pseudoephedrine became legitimate “cold medicine” in
Canada and could be exported in huge quantities on large trucks.
This January, President Bush cited his concern over Canadian pseudoephedrine diversion
as part of his narcotics certification determination, and Canada promulgated new chemical
control regulations. While an improvement, the regulations are still weak in that they limit law
enforcement’s access to transaction records and put Health Canada, rather than Canadian law
enforcement officials, in charge of implementation. These new regulations, combined with joint
U.S./Canadian law enforcement operations (Operations Mountain Express I, II & III and
Northern Star) may have already had some impact on the flow of precursor chemicals from
Canada. It appears that these operations may also have convinced some criminal groups in
Canada to switch from exporting large amounts of pseudoephederine to directly producing and
exporting smaller amounts of methamphetamine or MDMA. Sustained precursor chemical
control efforts in Canada, combined with future joint law enforcement investigations, will be
necessary to disrupt methamphetamine production in the future.
We continue to build on our successes with President Fox’s administration in Mexico.
Our neighbor to the south produces an unknown—but certainly
significant—quantity of
methamphetamine each year, in addition to thousands of tons of marijuana and more than seven
metric tons of heroin. Upon entering office, President Fox recognized that his vision for a
prosperous Mexico had no place for institutionalized drug cartels and the corruption and
lawlessness they foster. Since taking office in 2000, President Fox has strengthened law
enforcement cooperation with the United States and began reforming dysfunctional and
sometimes corrupt institutions. Consequently, a number of major traffickers have been
apprehended, more than 300 of their immediate subordinates have been taken off the streets, and
the Fox Administration has stepped-up efforts to go after corrupt officials in the government and
military.
All of these efforts will help stem the flow of drugs, including methamphetamine, into
our nation. The United States will continue to support Mexico’s drug control efforts through a
combination of technical and material assistance that focuses on training and operational support
for organizational attacks and arrests, disruption of money laundering activities, as well as
cocaine and drug interdiction and eradication.
