DEA conference in Argentina focuses on drug trafficking

Security agency representatives from around 100 countries met in Argentina on August 19 for talks on joint efforts against drug trafficking, in the first time the country has hosted the annual International Drug Enforcement Conference.

Argentina's Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva co-hosted the meeting with US Drug Enforcement Administration director Terrance Cole. Monteoliva wrote on X that governments should not negotiate with drug traffickers but should combat them through cooperation and lasting policies.

US ambassador to Argentina Peter Lamelas told the gathering that Washington was working with Argentina and other democratic countries against cartels, criminal networks and terrorists. He said no country could fight the problem alone.

Argentina is among more than a dozen pro-US administrations in Latin America that have joined President Donald Trump's Shield of the Americas anti-cartel alliance.

Mexico's Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch also attended. He pointed to President Claudia Sheinbaum's record against Mexican cartels, including extraditions of cartel leaders to the United States, and said states could prevail when they acted in coordination while respecting each nation's sovereignty.