Washington.– The US Senate approved a 1.6-billion-dollar, three-year package of anti-drug assistance to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean known as the "Merida Initiative."

The bill was approved by the House of Representatives on June 10, so the measure now goes to President George W. Bush to be signed into law.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid described the measure as "critical," and said its approval "shows the strong Congressional support on both sides of the aisle for working together to tackle shared problems with our neighbors on such a vexing issue."

"Mexico and the United States have a shared problem and we must have a shared solution," Reid said.

The senator said US officials "recognize that our voracious appetite for illegal narcotics has added to the problem at hand. We also recognize we must do more to stop the flow of the firearms contraband which is also exacerbating the problem."

The Merida Initiative was within the budget supplemental measure approved late Thursday that included 162 billion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.