The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says a drug-interdiction campaign by Mexico's government has cut cocaine supplies in 26 U.S. cities and resulted in a 29-percent price increase on the streets, USA Today reported Sept. 13.

The DEA said that the crackdown by the Calderon government in Mexico has also resulted in a decline in cocaine purity in the U.S. cities since September 2006. Cocaine prices are the highest since April 2005, when DEA began tracking price and purity.

"The law enforcement community and intelligence community is asking, 'How did this work?' and 'How do we keep it going?' " said John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. "Less cocaine, less crack means fewer victims of drugs."

Local officials in cities like Cleveland and Nashville confirm the trend. "There has not been as much cocaine on the streets of Nashville this year as we have seen in prior times," said Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron.

In Cleveland, however, murders are up as competition among drug dealers tightens. "It does create more violence, but that's a short-term thing," said Mayor Frank Jackson. "That's the natural outcome of 20 years of crack cocaine and 30 years of powder."

 "Now we have an opportunity, if we continue this interdiction, to put in some economic development, some treatment, some prevention, that will turn things around," Jackson added. "Interdiction isn't the cure-all. The police cannot solve this problem. It's one leg on the stool."