00:00This Mexican Navy boat patrols the port of Manzanillo on the country's Pacific coast.
00:06Manzanillo is Mexico's biggest container port and has long been a magnet for narcotics traffic.
00:11And aid sources told Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping freeze on foreign aid
00:16has stalled a United Nations program aimed at stopping imported precursor chemicals
00:20from reaching Mexican drug cartels.
00:22Those precursors, often from China, arrive through the port to supply illicit drug labs
00:27making fentanyl and methamphetamine.
00:29Two people who spoke to Reuters said the U.S. provided some $800,000 in funding
00:33to launch the project at the port of Manzanillo in 2023.
00:36Four of the sources said the U.S. funding freeze has also shelved, for now,
00:40future training and equipment donations to Manzanillo.
00:42Two sources said the port was slated to receive additional cargo scanners and drug testing equipment.
00:47White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly did not answer emailed questions from Reuters
00:51about the administration's decision to halt funding for the Mexican port program.
00:55She did say that Trump is acting to secure the border and cut federal spending.
00:59The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which runs the container program,
01:03did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Mexico's presidency and its foreign ministry.
01:08The stalling of the U.N. cargo program in Mexico is part of a broader pause
01:11in U.S.-funded anti-narcotics efforts in Mexico,
01:14after Trump ordered a global freeze on foreign aid the day he took office.
01:18Other activities halted by the stop work order include U.S. training of Mexican authorities
01:22to find and dismantle clandestine fentanyl labs,
01:25and U.S. donations of drug-sniffing canines to Mexico.
01:28The Trump administration has since issued waivers to resume funding for some security programs worldwide.
01:33In Mexico, that includes $7.8 million in projects funded by the State Department that aim
01:46But the rest of the drug interdiction program's approximately $50 million budget for Mexico,
01:51which is destined to disrupting the fentanyl supply chain, remains frozen.
01:55Three sources said the U.N. container control program in Mexico has not received a waiver from the freeze.
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