Time to Declare War on Mexican Drug Cartels

• Powerful cartels operate on both sides of the U.S-Mexico border
• Cartels rake in $52 billion from smuggling humans and drugs
• Two large cartels export most of the deadly fentanyl into America
• Seizures of fentanyl at the border are at historic levels 

The killings of two Americans in Mexico are a grim reminder that drug cartels are an imminent threat to Americans. Cartels operate with impunity, smuggling immigrants and illicit drugs into the country. These powerful gangs are responsible for lawlessness that permeates the southern border.

Mexico has for too long turned a blind eye to the drug cartels. Criminal organizations control wide swaths of Mexico, free from police interference.  Violent wars between the cartels often leave a bloody trail of bodies, which sparks a short-lived response from the Mexican army. 

With few exceptions, Mexican government officials at every level are on cartel payrolls, former Attorney General Anthony Barr said in a recent interview.  Over the years, the U.S. government has forked over billions of dollars to Mexico for beefed up security with no discernible impact on crime. 

The Sinaloa Cartel, a transnational syndicate, is the the largest and most powerful in Mexico,  Heavily armed Sinola criminals operate in 22 of the 31 Mexican states.  An emerging rival is the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNC), which has a presence in two-thirds of the country.  

These two cartels along with smaller gangs dominate the human smuggling and distribution of drugs into America.  Illicit drugs produced by the cartels include fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine. These drugs are fueling a devastating rise in overdose deaths in the U.S.  

One reason the cartels remain untouchable in Mexico is that the organizations generate more revenue than most legitimate businesses in that country.  The U.S. cannot rely on Mexico's narco state government because its economy benefits from the flow of American dollars from cartel activities. 

Not satisfied with operating only in Mexico, the cartels have spread tentacles into our country. The National Drug Intelligence Center estimates cartels have connections with criminals in 1,286 American cities.  In 143 of these cities, there are cartel operatives.  Cartels are no longer just a Mexican problem.

Their presence is sparking Mexican-style cartel violence. Six people, including a six-month old baby, were shot dead in California's Central Valley in January.  The county sheriff did not hesitate to connect the killings to Mexican cartels illegal drug trade.

"I think it's specifically connected to the cartel.  The level of violence...this was not your run-of-the-mill low end gang member," Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said. Biden officials were unmoved, insisting the border is secure. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appears unwilling to act.   

More than 106,000 Americans died of overdoses of illicit or prescription drugs in 2021, the most recent data available.  The fatalities include 80,411 deaths from synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl.  Methamphetamines accounted for 53,495 deaths, reports the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

The U.S. attorney's office in San Diego in cooperation with law enforcement officials seized nearly 500,000 fake pills laced with fentanyl last year.  The  Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) identified local couriers, stash-house managers and criminals who smuggled the proceeds to Mexico.  

During 2022, the DEA seized 50.6 million fentanyl pills and 10,500 pounds of fentanyl powder.  The agency's lab estimates these seizures add up to 379 million potential doses, enough to kill every American. No doubt tens of millions of pills were smuggled undetected into the U.S.

Those staggering figures are why the Mexican cartels collect an estimated $39 billion in drug profits. Experts figure the cartels net another $13 billion from smuggling illegal immigrants across the border.  Last year there were 2.4 million illegal immigrants encountered by U.S. Border Patrol agents. 

Each illegal paid a cartel coyote.  More than 500,000 immigrants slipped past patrol agents and are living in the shadows in cities throughout the nation. Some were ferried to their destinations by Americans who were paid by the cartel.  

Americans, except those who live in border states, appear not to care about the unprecedented influx of illegal immigrants.  Perhaps, the deaths of Americans in Matamoras will finally stir American outrage and action by the Biden Administration.  

There have been calls by Republicans to designate the Mexican cartels as terrorists and to use military action. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reacted angrily, threatening to meddle in U.S. elections with a disinformation campaign against the GOP.  

If there is any lingering doubt, the Mexican president's reaction should convince the Biden Administration that the nation's chief executive will do whatever he can to protect the cartels and their main source of income, the smuggling of humans and drugs into the U.S. 

To add to the indignation, Mexican officials blame Americans for the drug smuggling.  Cartels are only servicing the drug habits of Americans, they shrug.  However, these hooligans also use illicit drugs turn Americans into addicts.  Since when is poisoning Americans acceptable, even if they want drugs?

The Biden Administration has a choice.  Ignore the fact that the U.S. is enabling the cartels by allowing human and drug smuggling at the border.  Biden's laissez faire border policy is enriching the cartels and enhancing their power and influence in Mexico and the U.S. 

The other choice is to unleash American law enforcement, intelligence agencies and the military to crush the cartels, interrupting their operations and bringing gang leaders to justice. America did it once before when it went after the cartel bosses in Columbia.  The U.S. can do it again.  

Fentanyl: America's Other Epidemic

Fentanyl is a silent stalker of vulnerable Americans.  Almost overnight, it has become the top killer of adults aged 18 to 45.  Unlike America's other epidemic, there are no daily fatality counts in the news.  Fentanyl death statistics usually emerge once a year, then disappear from the nation's consciousness.

America can no longer ignore the issue. Drug overdose fatalities represent a mushrooming health emergency that has taken a backseat to COVID, despite alarming trends.  A perfect storm of pandemic lockdowns, a porous southern border and increased drug smuggling is fueling the maelstrom.     

A record 100,306 Americans died of drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending April 2021, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This represents a 28.5% spike in deaths compared to a year ago.  Since 1999, more than 841,000 Americans have perished of drug overdoses.

From 2019 to 2020, the rate of overdose deaths involving fentanyl and similar opioids leaped 56%.  Americans aged 15-to-24 experienced the largest percentage increase in overdose fatalities, 49%.  This age group had the second lowest rates in 2019, underscoring the rising drug use among young people. 

Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, has overtaken prescription painkillers and heroin as the leading cause of overdose fatalities.  It is responsible for about two-thirds of the overdose deaths,  according to an analysis of CDC data by the nonprofit organization Families Against Fentanyl.

Fentanyl is about 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.  It is highly addictive and lethal.  A single fentanyl pill can be fatal.  Often Americans are unaware they are consuming fentanyl.  Drug cartels lace fake prescription pills with fentanyl, including Xanax, Valium, Oxytocin and opioids.

The prescription pills are manufactured in Mexico by drug cartels, using chemicals supplied by China.  Fentanyl is mixed with other narcotics to increase its potency and then infused into counterfeit prescription pills. The drugs are trafficked across the southern border by cartel-paid smugglers.

The flood of illegal immigrants is a boon to traffickers.  A reported 1.7 million "encounters " with illegal immigrants were tallied in fiscal year 2021, quadruple the figure for the prior year. The  Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimates about 400,000 so-called getaways eluded detection.

The statistics from the Customs and Border Protection agency for the fiscal year 2021 paint a clear but disturbing picture of  drugs flowing across the border.  During the latest reporting period, the agency confiscated 11,200 pounds of fentanyl, a jump from 2,150 pounds in fiscal 2020.

In addition, the Drug Enforcement Administration (IDEA) seized a record of more than 20 million counterfeit pills containing fentanyl in 2021.  Nearly half were confiscated in Phoenix, the repackaging and distribution area for the notorious Mexican Sinaloa Cartel, which has infiltrated the U.S..  

The drug pushers take advantage of America's social media to market the phony prescription pills.  The DEA estimates about 75% of drug traffickers use Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. The agency says the thugs employ emoji's as a code for the types of prescriptions.

Cheri Oz, special agent in charge of the DEA's Phoenix field division, issued this warning at a news conference: "Traffickers are using technology to get into your homes and sell pills to your children and loved ones.  Watch their social media and educate yourselves on the dangers and lingo" of emoji's.

Isn't it ironic, perhaps insidious, the social media cabal regularly censors speech on its platforms, but knowingly allows criminals to advertise its fentanyl-laced pills?  The firms cannot claim ignorance because the DEA publishes on its website details of the criminals social media strategy.  

Excessive lockdowns imposed during the pandemic are equally to blame for the spiraling overdose cases.  In focusing on legitimate concerns about hospitalizations and deaths, health officials failed to balance their decisions with the risks of mental health and drug problems triggered by isolation.

"Two forces here are the negative economic impact of the pandemic as well as the emotional impact," says Dr. Paul Christo, associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "That led a lot of people to use drugs to cope."

For its part, the Biden Administration plan to address the issue includes prescription testing, support programs, clean needles and $11 billion in spending.  None of these steps will alter the overdose trends.  No administration official has dared call for tightening the border to stem drug trafficking.

The Department of Justice seems uninterested in prosecuting drug smugglers, but pursues parents who appear at school board meetings. The border patrol has been whipsawed by administration criticism, instead of receiving more resources to halt the stream of drugs gushing across the southern border. 

To slow distribution, Congress should immediately pass legislation making it a federal crime for social media platforms to knowingly aid the sale of illegal drugs. Facebook and its ilk will fight it, piously claiming there is no way to police it.  That's a lie and should be condemned.

Any reasonable assessment of the drug issue would conclude the skyrocketing overdose deaths are the result of self-inflicted wounds by state and federal governments. America is straining under the weight of bad policy decisions. Yet there appears little sense of urgency to change direction.