Drug War: DEA Statement on DEA, Mexico Efforts to Fight Money Laundering

From the Drug Enforcement Administration website. Note this says absolutely nothing about participating with cartels in laundering their money.

DEC 06 -- The Drug Enforcement Administration has been working collaboratively with the Mexican government to fight money laundering for years. As part of that collaboration, DEA works with Mexican authorities to gather and use information about these criminal organizations to counter the threats they pose to both of our countries. The DEA has well established mechanisms for coordinating and approving activities associated with the fight against money laundering. As a result of this cooperation, DEA has seized illicit transnational criminal organization money all around the world through our partnership with law enforcement.

DEA personnel associated with these efforts work with Mexican government officials, who of course have exclusive responsibility for executing law enforcement operations in their own country, which we respect. As our partners in Mexico have stated, the joint investigations to detect and dismantle money laundering networks have led to important advances and detentions in each country. The cooperation between the United States and Mexico is based on principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust and respect for the jurisdiction of each country.