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Southwest
Border Initiative
The Southwest Border
Initiative (SWBI), in operation since 1994, is a cooperative effort by
federal law enforcement agencies to combat the substantial threat posed
by Mexico-based trafficking groups operating along the Southwest Border.
These groups are transporting multi-ton shipments of heroin, methamphetamine,
and marijuana. They are also hired by trafficking groups from Colombia
to transport equally huge amounts of cocaine into the United States.
The SWBI attacks
organizations by targeting the communication systems of their command
and control centers. Working in concert, the DEA, the FBI, U.S. Customs
Service, and U.S. Attorneys offices around the country conduct wiretaps
that ultimately identify all levels of the Mexico- or Colombia-based organizations.
This strategy allows the DEA to track the seamless continuum of drug traffic
as it gradually flows from Colombia or Mexico to the streets of the United
States where it is distributed.
The initiative is
anchored by the DEA's belief that the only way to successfully attack
any organized crime syndicate is to build strong cases against its leadership
and their command and control functions. With the assistance of foreign
governments, the long-term incarceration of those in leadership positions
typically leaves entire organizations in disarray and renders them unable
to conduct business in the United States.
This initiative,
along with bi-national task forces in Monterrey, Juarez, and Tijuana,
has provided a solid base for effective law enforcement operations aimed
at major international drug traffickers. Examples of the success of the
SWBI can be found in several DEA operations. Specifically, Operation Zorro
II, Operation Reciprocity, and Operation Limelight each relied extensively
on numerous court-ordered wire- taps that were coordinated and monitored
by law enforcement officers operating under the SWBI. Collectively, these
three operations resulted in the arrest of 156 individuals and the seizure
of over 22,000 kilos of illegal drugs and $35 million. The SWBI has also
helped to reduce corruption, violence, and alien smuggling associated
with drug trafficking activities carried out along the border.
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