Tillerson: US must deal with demand to stem drug violence

Speaking after talks on combatting transnational crime with their Mexican counterparts, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly both said the United States bears significant responsibility for the problem. They said U.S. demand for opioids and other drugs is the prime driver of not only devastating overdose death tolls in the United States, but also of raging gang violence in Mexico.

"We Americans must own this problem," Tillerson told reporters. "It is ours."

He called for a comprehensive campaign against domestic drug addiction combined with stepped-up intelligence and information sharing with Mexico to disrupt drug traffickers by hitting production sites, transportation networks and their cash flows.

Kelly echoed those comments, saying that until the consumption of illicit drugs in the United States drops "we are fighting a losing battle on the border."

He said construction of President Donald Trump's promised border wall would have to be supplemented with drug demand reduction in the U.S. and greater coordination with Mexico.

Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray and Secretary of Government Miguel Osorio Chong agreed and said their government would take steps to improve cooperation as well as do more to prosecute gang members. "Violence is not being addressed on our side," Osorio said.

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