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MARCO WERMAN: I'm Marco Werman. This is The World. Mexico's Attorney General today published a list of the country's 24 most wanted drug lords. The Mexican government is offering a reward of $2 million dollars for information on any one of them. Drug cartel-related violence affects almost every aspect of life in Mexico. That includes trade. Several hundred US-owned companies operate south of the border. Their presence has spurred a huge growth in the business of providing security to companies shipping goods between Mexico and the United States. The World's Lorne Matalon reports.

LORNE MATALON: 80 percent of Mexican exports are sent to the US, the vast majority by truck. Freight Watch Group, staffed by Mexicans and Americans, is one of the country's largest private security firms, safeguarding both people and trucks – escorting everything from food to computers. Three years ago, a dozen security companies had the market to themselves. Today, at least 200 such firms compete to guard cargo. Before one delivery, an executive calls Luis Abad, who heads Freight Watch's security team.

EXECUTIVE: Be safe guys. Watch out on the street.

ABAD: Will do, dude. Will do. Thanks.

MATALON: Abad's driver, a former Army Special Forces Officer, says, “Another day of work and in the name of God. Let's hope everything goes well.” For deliveries to and from the US, trucks must navigate across Mexico's northern states, where the country's narco-cartels and bandits wait to pounce. Every week, trucks all over Mexico are hijacked and drivers are sometimes murdered.

ABAD: Very dangerous! Very dangerous because the motivation for stealing the freight has increased. People are out there without a job, so likelihood of freight being snatched has increased. So the challenge is to be one step ahead of the game.

MATALON: A couple of days later, near Cuautitlan, two hours north of Mexico City, Abad is in an unmarked car followed by other deliberately plain-looking cars, and two men on motorcycles driving back and then falling behind a delivery truck. It's bringing US manufactured hi-tech equipment to a warehouse in the city.

ABAD: The motorcycle and the primary escort are in constant communication, because they're starting to eyeball every vehicle that might be suspicious and that may be tailing the truck. The routing may change as we go.

MATALON: While traveling, Abad is tracked by GPS from the company's communications center. After operators check in with him, they get a call that another truck in Guadalajara needs to stop for repairs. The operator is concerned – the highway has a history of hijackings – but the driver says, “Don't worry.” He says, “Everything is all right in Guadalajara. Thank God.”

DEBORAH RINER: One of the challenges is created by the drug issue and the security problems that creates, without a doubt.

MATALON: Deborah Riner is Chief Economist at The American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico City. She says US-Mexico trade, representing about a quarter of Mexico's GDP, could not function without ramped-up security. Riner also says the war against the drug cartels leads to long delays at numerous Army checkpoints and more inspections at the border.

RINER: It's a great relief and very welcome to hear that the United States government is dedicating a substantial chunk of money to modernize the border, because that will certainly help decrease transit times. In the end, we're talking about cost, aren't we? And any businessperson with reason is going to say, ‘We need to reduce costs.' And so to the extent that you can move things across the border more quickly, all the better.”

MATALON: The Mexican Insurance Association says 2008 was a record year for theft of truck freight. Between security concerns and delays, moving goods back and forth is costlier. But with two-way trade at $293 Billion dollars a year, making Mexico the US's third biggest trading partner, business has little choice but to bear the cost and hope Mexico wins its battle against crime – soon. For The World, I'm Lorne Matalon, in Mexico City.

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