U.S. eyes customs deal with Mexico, plans attorney general visit in January

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The United States is looking at ways to cooperate with Mexico on customs along their border to curb flows of illicit arms, drugs and money, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico said on Friday.

Speaking after what he called a fruitful meeting with Mexico’s finance ministry, Ambassador Christopher Landau said that U.S. Attorney General William Barr would visit Mexico next month to discuss cooperation.

“What we want to do on the border is see if we can combine our customs so that, together, we can control what comes into Mexico and also what leaves Mexico and enters the United States,” Landau told reporters.

The goal is to eliminate “contraband on both sides, the drugs on one side, and the arms and money on the other,” he said.

Barr visited Mexico in early December to discuss issues including security, arms trafficking and money laundering with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and other top officials.

(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Robert Birsel)