U.S., Mexico officials discuss guns, drugs

CUERNAVACA, Mexico, April 3 (UPI) -- U.S. and Mexican officials met in Mexico to discuss drug and arms trafficking problems plaguing the nations, but little progress was indicated, officials said.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano met with Eduardo Medina Mora, Mexico's attorney general, and other top security officials in the city of Cuernavaca to talk over ways to better block the flow of weapons, cash and drugs between the two countries.

Medina Mora told The Washington Post the two-day session produced "an agreement to create a joint working group that could produce a timely report."

Mexican President Felipe Calderón has deployed the country's army to fight powerful drug cartels that are heavily armed with assault weapons and grenades, which Mexican officials say come mostly from the United States.

Mexican officials, including Medina Mora, blamed loose U.S. gun-control laws for the weapons smuggled south, and he has repeatedly called on the United States to ban assault weapons.

Holder agreed that the "vast majority" of weapons used by the cartels come from north of the border but said there was no U.S. plan to change any of its gun laws to slow weapons smuggling.

Napolitano described the drug smugglers as a "scourge."

Napolitano announced earlier in the week that the United States would spend $400 million to improve search and surveillance technologies at U.S. ports of entry.