U.S., Mexico to target drug cartels

WASHINGTON , Aug. 8 (UPI) -- A massive and costly offensive on Mexican drug cartels is being drafted by the Bush administration with apparent cooperation from Mexico.

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, told the Washington Post as negotiators are still in discussions, a cost for the aid plan hasn't been finalized yet.

"I'm sure that it's going to be hundreds of millions of dollars," Cuellar said. "If we're going to be successful in cutting out this cancer over there, we're going to have to invest a large amount."

U.S. funding would include a myriad of surveillance equipment including radar, aircraft to shuttle Mexican drug agents around, training and U.S. manpower, sources told the Post.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon's dispatch of 20,000 federal police officers to fight the cartels has shown little effect, and more than 3,000 deaths have been attributed to the cartels in the last year, the report said.

The last major international drug battle the U.S. funded was Plan Colombia, a seven-year, $5 billion program in Colombia targeting cocaine.