Klobuchar pushing Mexico on heroin, human trafficking

Sen. Amy Klobuchar is pressing Mexican government officials to curb the illegal movement of heroin to the U.S.

"We understand these are complicated problems, and that we need to look at them not just from the supply side but the demand side," Klobuchar said in an interview with MPR News from Mexico City where she's part of a U.S. delegation meeting on issues of drugs and the illegal sex trade.

Klobuchar has urged the Drug Enforcement Administration to beef up its efforts to disrupt the pipeline at the Mexican border. She says Minnesota has some of the cheapest and purest heroin in the country, which has led to a deadly spike in abuse.

Last year was the deadliest on record for heroin-related fatalities in Hennepin County.

Klobuchar is also asking Mexican law enforcement to partner with the U.S. to curtail the sale of young women and girls for sex. Mexico leads in the number of trafficking victims that are shuffled to the U.S. from other countries, she said.

While most of the sex trafficking in the U.S. involves American girls, "it is very clear that some of the problems in Mexico with this issue are spilling over into our country as traffickers are taking these girls across the border," Klobuchar said, adding that it's important to acknowledge with Mexican authorities that the U.S. has its own problems when it comes to selling young girls for sex.