U.S. Agents Role in Mexico

The Immigration, Customs and Enforcement agency is one of several U.S. federal law enforcement groups with employees on assignment in Mexico.

Agents with the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also operate across the border, assisting in various roles through joint investigations. These agents live and work in major cities throughout Mexico but are not allowed by Mexican authorities to carry any weapons.

ICE special agent Jaime Zapata was one of about 30 ICE agents stationed throughout Mexico. ICE officials said he and special agent Victor Avila, from El Paso, were ambushed along this highway, after meeting with other U.S. officials in the state of San Luis Potosi. Those meetings are a part of the job for agents, as is working side by side with their Mexican counterparts on investigations that target a wide range of cross border crimes including: narcotic trafficking, child exploitation, sex trafficking, immigrant smuggling, drug tunnels and cash smuggling.

Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) also hit the often blood-soaked streets of Mexico. Their primary assignment is to trace down where a weapon came from and ATF officials said every year, agents track down more than 1,000 guns from Mexican shootouts.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents are another U.S. law enforcement group that has a big presence in Mexico, with nine offices spread throughout the country. DEA agents volunteer to target the country’s biggest crime – drugs.

On any given investigation, all three of the agencies will work together to solve cross border crimes.