Mexico City  - Mexico and the United States signed an agreement Wednesday on combatting narcotics trafficking and organized crime.

By the terms of the measure, the US will provide 197 million dollars under Washington's Merida Initiative to aid Mexico's efforts to stop drug smuggling by violent criminal cartels.

The signing of the agreement was held in Mexico City with US Ambassador Antonio O Garza and Carlos Rico Ferrat, Mexican undersecretary of foreign affairs for North America. (dpa)