Obama: sending the guns south
Updated on 13 March 2009
US President Barack Obama says he is considering deploying National Guard troops to the Mexican border as a last resort in the fight against drug crime.
"The drugs are coming north, we're sending funds and guns south", he told reporters.
Texas and Arizona have asked for hundreds of extra troops to prevent the rising violence spilling over, although President Obama said he was not interested in militarising the border.
The Mexican border is becoming one of the biggest national security threats facing the United States.
