Latin American police chiefs meet on cross-border gangs
Police chiefs from several Latin American nations met with U.S. law enforcement officials here on Wednesday to discuss concerted efforts against cross-border gangs.

"The objective of the summit, co-hosted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), is to give U.S. law enforcement and its Latin American partners the opportunity to strengthen their multilateral efforts against transnational gangs," the ATF said in a statement.

The participants include the directors of the Mexican federal police and police chiefs from Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras as well as several American police chiefs, including Los Angeles police chief William Bratton and officials from the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the U.S. Justice Department.

The three-day conference is intended to improve information-sharing among law enforcement agencies and find ways to strengthen laws against gang members who cross borders to smuggle drugs and illegal weapons, according to FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

"The emphasis here is to tackle the transnational gang issue and to fight gang violence in all its forms," she said.

Cross-border gangs have been blamed for increasing violence both in the United States and the Latin American countries.