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Ecuador, Mexico agree to strengthen fight against drug trafficking

01 April 2011 04:03 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The governments of Ecuador and Mexico on Thursday agreed to strengthen the fight against the international drug trafficking and organized crime by updating a cooperation agreement that dates back to 1993, APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

The agreement was announced Thursday by Ecuador’s Foreign Vice Minister Kintto Lucas and his Mexican counterpart Ruben Beltran at the end of the 3rd Meeting of the Consultation Mechanism of Mutual Interest held in Quito.

Both countries will strengthen bilateral relations on issues of judicial cooperation, port control, money laundering and efforts to reduce the demand for consumption, the two ministers said in a joint statement.

"Due to its transnational character the efficient combat against organized crime can only be carried out with the international cooperation based on principles of shared responsibility and sovereign respect for each other," the statement said.

Both officers recognized the efforts carried out by the two governments in their fight against organized crime and reaffirmed their will to strengthen the joint cooperation in this area, it added.

Kintto Lucas and Beltran also agreed to move forward with cooperation on issues related to the validity and strengthening of democracy, integration, trade, migration, cooperation and climate change, while committing to promote the signing of a memorandum of understanding to boost trade between small and medium companies.

A 4th Meeting of the Consultation Mechanism of Mutual Interest is scheduled to be held in Mexico City in 2013.