Drug War - Merida Initiative: Maryland's Department of Public Safety Will Assist Mexico's Federal Police in Training Mexico's State-Level Model Police Units

This is part of the recent change in the Merida Initiative to finance U.S. state and local police departments to train Mexican state and local police.

U.S. Department of State: "The Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (MDPSCS) recently signed a cooperative agreement to train leaders of Mexico’s state-level Model Police Units (MPUs).

The Mexican Government is committed to have MPUs in nearly all 31 Mexican states and the capital. An MPU is a 422 person vetted police task force specially trained to address the violence and escalating crime initiated by the drug trafficking organizations operating in Mexico. With State Department Merida Initiative funding, the MDPSCS will work with Mexico’s Federal Police to develop training and materials. The initial engagement will include MPU leaders from priority states along our shared border that are facing the biggest threat from the cartels." read more