Pubdate: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 Source: New York Times (NY) Page: A12 Copyright: 2009 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Author: Sheryl Gay Stolberg Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Mexico Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/drug+cartels Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Felipe+Calderon Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Obama OBAMA TAKES AIM AT FINANCES OF THREE MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS WASHINGTON - The White House said Wednesday that President Obama was imposing financial penalties on members of three Mexican drug cartels, designating the cartels as "kingpins" on the eve of a presidential visit to Mexico, where the issue of drug violence will be high on the agenda. Mr. Obama leaves on Thursday for Mexico City; he will be the first American president to visit that nation's capital since President Bill Clinton traveled there 12 years ago. In the weeks leading up to the trip, the Obama administration has said it intends to work closely with Mexico to stem a rising tide of drug violence that is fueled, in part, by cross-border weapons trafficking. Mr. Obama has the right to identify drug traffickers and their related businesses for penalties under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, a 1999 law that has been used to focus on several dozen foreign operations worldwide, including some in Mexico. On Wednesday, the White House identified three more Mexican drug operations that will carry the kingpin designation: Sinaloa Cartel, Los Zetas and La Familia Michoacana. The act allows the Treasury Department to freeze any assets of the cartels found in United States jurisdictions and to prosecute Americans who help the cartels handle their money. Drug violence has become so prevalent in Mexico that some experts warn that the country is on the verge of becoming a failed state. In an interview with ABC News that was being shown Wednesday evening, Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, dismissed that assertion. "Absolutely not," he said, according to a transcript provided by the network. "Mexico is not a failed state." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake