December 14, 2020 – In Breaking News – The Guardian

Mexico’s congress has approved a new national security law restricting the activities of foreign law enforcement officers, in a move which critics say will endanger intelligence sources and threaten the future of international anti-narcotics operations.

The law passed on Tuesday strips foreign agents of diplomatic immunity and requires foreign officials in the country to share any intelligence they have obtained with Mexican officials.

While not ostensibly targeting officials from any specific country, the new law would probably impact US agencies, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which maintains a robust presence in Mexico.

(Learn More. Courtesy of The Guardian, HillPark1 and YouTube. Posted on Dec  15, 2020.)

“You’re going to see a situation where the efforts of US agencies, especially with the DEA, are significantly going to be diminished,” said Mike Vigil, the former DEA chief of international operations.

“They want to relegate the agencies like DEA to doing nothing more than staying in the office and just passing information.”

The DEA works closely with Mexican security officials and creates much of the intelligence used in the so-called war on drugs.

But US operations have sometimes caused a nationalist backlash, and despite billions of dollars in US military aid and attempts at judicial reform, Mexico’s militarised crackdown on crime has claimed more than 200,000 lives and left about 70,000 missing.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the president, suddenly sent the bill to congress in early December after complaining of the way the DEA acts in Mexico.

“During other governments, they came into Mexico as if they owned the place. They didn’t just carry out intelligence operations, they went after targets.”

“[Mexican] security forces launched the operations, but the decisions were made by these [foreign] agencies.”

“That no longer happens,” he said.

The law also follows the detention of the country’s former defence secretary on drug charges in the US.

Continue reading… Mexico: new security law strips diplomatic immunity from DEA agents

DEA Recognized in 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

• Excellence in Homeland Security

• The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Initiative

• The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day hosted by the DEA and its national, tribal and community partners aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications.

• In response to the dramatic increase in America’s teens use of vaping devices, the DEA for the first time on Saturday, October 26, 2019 began accept vaping devices and cartridges at all of its drop off locations across the nation.

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The traditional security marketplace has long been covered by a host of publications putting forward the old school basics to what is Today – a fast changing security landscape.

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