page_title: Mérida Initiative
section_title: Equipment
hierarchical_section_title: Mérida Initiative / Equipment
caption_attribution_description: English: M4 Carbine with M203 Grenade Launcher Attached.
context_page_description: The Mérida Initiative is a security cooperation agreement among the United States, the government of Mexico, and the countries of Central America, with the declared aim of combating the threats of drug trafficking, transnational organized crime, and money laundering. The assistance includes training, equipment, and intelligence.
  In seeking partnership with the United States, Mexican officials point out that the illicit drug trade is a shared problem in need of a shared solution, and remark that most of the financing for the Mexican traffickers comes from American drug consumers. U.S. law enforcement officials estimate that US$12 to 15 billion per year flows from the United States to the Mexican traffickers, and that is just in cash and excludes the money sent by wire transfers. Other government agencies, including the Government Accountability Office and the National Drug Intelligence Center, have estimated that Mexico's cartels earn upwards of $23 billion per year in illicit drug revenue from the United States.
  U.S.
context_section_description: The Mérida Initiative has provided funding for:
  Non-intrusive inspection equipment such as ion scanners, gamma ray scanners, X-ray vans and canine units for Mexico and Central America.
  Technologies to improve and secure telecommunications systems that collect criminal information in Mexico.
  Technical advice and training to strengthen the institutions of justice, case management software to track investigations through the system, new offices of citizen complaints and professional responsibility, and witness protection programs to Mexico.
  Thirteen Bell 412 EP helicopters (5 with INCLE funds for the Federal Police and 8 with FMF funds for the military).
  Eleven UH-60 Black Hawk transport helicopters (three with INCLE funds for the Federal Police and 5 with FMF funds for the Mexican Air Force, and three for the Mexican Navy.)
  Four CASA CN-235 transport aircraft.
  One Reconnaissance Dornier 328JET
  Equipment, training and community action programs in Central American countries to implement anti-gang measures and expand the reach of these measures.
  As of March 2016, the initiative transferred 22 aircraft to Mexican security forces.
caption: M4 Carbine with grenade launcher.
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