US asks Caribbean to put pressure on drug traffickers

(BBC): US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has expressed concern that drugs traffickers will begin using routes into the US through the Caribbean. He told leaders in Barbados he wanted to work more closely with the region as pressure on Mexican routes was likely to make smugglers shift their efforts. Caribbean leaders say drug traffic in the region is already increasing. They believe the trade through the islands is already increasing as the US pours hundreds of millions of dollars into the fight in Mexico. At a regional security conference in Barbados, Gates emphasized the need to tighten coordination between anti-drug efforts in Latin America, the Caribbean and the US.