MEXICO CITY, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon Thursday urged U.S. congressmen to support a joint plan to fight drug trafficking and other organized crime in the region.

    During a meeting with U.S. California State Assembly speaker Fabian Nunez, Calderon called on Californian congressmen to help promote the Merida Initiative in the U.S. Congress.

    Nunez, for his part, highlighted the importance of the coordinated actions to combat organized crime.

    The initiative, presented to the U.S. Congress in March 2007, was hammered out by the Mexican and U.S. governments to finance campaigns by the Mexican and Central American governments against across-border crime.

    The U.S. Congress has been requested to hand out 1.4 billion U.S. dollars to finance the initiative over three years.