Meth Conferees Promise Cooperation

ST. LOUIS (CN) - Representatives of China, Mexico and the United States on Wednesday signed a statement calling for the countries to work together to fight methamphetamines and the precursor drugs used to make them.

The agreement concluded the National Methamphetamine Chemicals Initiative conference, featuring leaders from Mexico, China, Canada, Germany and India and federal, state and local law enforcement officers from the United States.

China, Germany and India are among the five leading global exporters of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, chemicals used to make meth, and the U.S., Canada and Mexico are traditionally the top importers of those products.

Representatives from the United States, China and Mexico pledged to work together to exchange information, to prevent diversion of methamphetamine precursors, to identify each country's legal need for meth precursors, and to strengthen control mechanisms.

Attorney General Michael McClaskey said a recent international collaboration that focused on the trade in meth precursor chemicals in the Americas, Africa and West Asia resulted in the seizure of 53 tons of precursor chemicals that would have produced 48 tons of meth at a $4 billion street value.

Representatives here said more international efforts such as this are the best ways to fight meth.

John P. Walters, director of the White House office of National Drug Control Policy, applauded Mexico's efforts by presenting Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora with the NMCI Impact Award. Mexico has prohibited the importation of key meth manufacturing chemicals and requires the sellers of the chemicals to deplete their supply by 2009.

Walters said that a nearly 50 percent decrease in meth seizures along the U.S. Southwest border can be attributed to the Mexican government's efforts.

"Our goal is not to just decrease the meth trade," Walters said. "Our task is to crush it."

The conference was held in Missouri, a U.S. hotbed of methamphetamines. According to the National Clandestine Laboratory Database, there have been 6,441 meth clandestine laboratory incidents in Missouri since 2004 - 15 percent of the incidents for the entire United States.

Walters, Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora and Chinese Deputy General Liu Yuejin signed the joint statement.

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