PULSE NEWS MEXICO

Mexican Foreign Relations (SRE) Secretary Marcelo Ebrard on Thursday, March 2, called on members of the Group of 20 (G-20) forum to join forces in the combat against international fentanyl and arms trafficking.

Speaking at the G-20 ministerial meeting in New Delhi, India, Ebrard told his colleagues that drug and firearms trafficking is doing severe damage to Mexico and other countries.

He also noted that the ongoing war in Ukraine will inevitably result in an oversupply of arms, the trafficking of which must be avoided.

“Mexico has emphasized the need to combat illegal trafficking, diversion, the unauthorized export and illicit trade in small arms and light weapons,” Ebrard said.

Consequently, he said, the members of the G-20 “should propose among all of us a greater commitment and greater effectiveness to combat this phenomenon, because with the availability of weapons that we now have and those that will be derived from the ongoing conflict (in Ukraine), we are going to have even more weapons, and the greater the availability of weapons, the greater the possibility of terrorism and violence.”

Ebrard also said that the fight against the international supply chains of illicit drugs, including fentanyl, requires a framework of international cooperation to combat everything from production to trafficking and illicit profits.

The G-20, comprised of 19 countries and the European Union (EU), is an international forum of the world’s largest economies.