Attorney General Hector Balderas during a training in Santa Fe with Mexican law enforcement officials on investigative and trial presentation skills to help prevent crime from crossing the border. Courtesy photo

Attorney General Hector Balderas, seated at center, with Mexican law enforcement officials and New Mexico Office of the Attorney General prosecutors and special agents in Santa Fe during a recent training. Courtesy photo

STATE News:

SANTA FE – This week, Attorney General Hector Balderas hosted a delegation of 21 prosecutors, forensic scientists and investigators from the states of Jalisco, Nuevo Leon, Nayarit, Tabasco and Quintana Roo, Mexico, for a week-long training on investigative and trial presentation skills.

As a border state attorney general, Balderas works closely with Mexican law enforcement and Mexican attorneys general to prevent crime from crossing the border. This week’s training is in conjunction with the Conference of Western Attorneys General (CWAG) Alliance Partnership and is funded by a U.S. State Department Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs grant.

“We work closely with Mexican law enforcement, both at the federal and state level, to prevent violent crime from crossing our border, locate and extradite fugitives who flee to Mexico, and make our border safer and more secure,” Balderas said. “We will continue to strengthen the partnerships we’ve built with the Mexican federal government, bordering Mexican state attorneys general, and local law enforcement on the border.”

The CWAG Alliance Partnership has achieved unprecedented results on both sides of the border, including efforts between the states of New Mexico and Chihuahua, for example, inspiring a promising template for state-to-state skill focused trainings. Additionally, the cultivation of expanded relationships led to bi-national efforts such as the New Mexico State Legislature enacting legislation aimed at criminalizing human trafficking.