Mexico wants US to curb arms flow across border

Mexico wants the US to stem the flow of arms into the country as effectively as it has curbed the flow of migrants,Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said here.

Mexico proposed that arms trafficking be given the same "high priority" as immigration, Xinhua news agency quoted Ebrard as saying at a press conference on Thursday presided by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

"Mexico is going to be demanding the measures the US must take in exchange for the measures Mexico is taking.

"They have to do a lot more... Very little is being done, if anything," he added.

According to an official statement, 70 per cent of firearms used to commit crimes in Mexico come from the US.

To address the problem, the two countries have agreed to create a bi-national group to review the use and origin of firearms linked to crimes in Mexico on a monthly basis.

The group will focus on border-crossing points, such as San Diego-Tijuana, El Paso-Ciudad Juarez, Laredo-Nuevo Laredo, McAllen-Reynosa and Brownsville-Matamoros.

"Our ultimate goal is to freeze arms trafficking at the border with the US," Ebrard said.

Pressed by Washington, Mexico has reduced the flow of Central American asylum-seekers at the US border by 58.7 per cent by September 10, since Mexico put in place stiffer controls in early June, according to Ebrard.