Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Monday asked Washington for "firm" measures against weapons trafficking from the United States to Mexico that benefits drug cartels.
"Given the shared interest in combating criminal activity around the border, President Calderon called on the United States to take strong action to curb the smuggling of weapons from the north to the south," according to a government statement released after Calderon met with US lawmakers.
Some 5,300 people were murdered throughout Mexico in 2008, according to official figures, despite a government crackdown that saw the deployment of nearly 36,000 troops.
Rival drug cartels are fighting a bloody war to control drug trafficking headed for the United States, the world's biggest consumer of cocaine.
Mexico maintains that most of the sophisticated weapons held by the cartels come from the United States, and Calderon's government has long called on Washington to impose more controls on weapons sales.
