DOJ hosts Regional Smuggling Forum and Roundtable event

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently joined two additional agencies in hosting a Regional Smuggling Forum and Roundtable event in Mexico City.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) also participated in the effort.

The workshop brought together human smuggling investigators and prosecutors from El Salvador, Honduras, and the United States – as well as investigators from Guatemala and prosecutors from Mexico.

“This innovative forum in Mexico City helps ensure that the United States and our international partners are positioned to develop joint strategies and best practices to counter transnational human smuggling organizations,” Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr., of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said. “The partnership between the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and State is crucial to disrupting, dismantling, and prosecuting trafficking networks that exploit migrants, enrich organized crime, and pose a threat to national security.”

Forum participants shared best practices, discussed recent trends and obstacles, and coordinated strategies during the sessions, officials said, noting the collaboration sought to increase successful collaborations between regional partners in combating transnational human smuggling organizations.

“This two-day regional event in Mexico City helps ensure that the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador are able to partner together to develop joint strategies and best practices to counter these dangerous transnational human smuggling organizations,” U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said. “We are stronger when we work together.”