US May Label Mexican Drug Cartels as Terrorist Organizations
By Dr. Jarrod Sadulski
Faculty Member, Criminal Justice, American Military University
President Trump recently announced that he may soon designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) — the same designation placed on traditional terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda, ISIS and the Kurdistan Workers Party.
Labeling Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations could fundamentally change the way the war on drugs is prosecuted. The Congressional Research Service reports that this designation would increase the power of U.S. law enforcement to combat the cartels by making it unlawful to provide them with material support or resources. The designation would also permit the deportation from the U.S. of representatives and members of these gangs as well as block any financial transactions involving drug cartel assets.
Mexican drug cartels are terrorizing many parts of the country with a high degree of impunity. According to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), over 90% of illicit drugs entering the United States come from Mexico.
Drug Cartels Are the Largest Distributors of Heroin, Methamphetamine, and Cocaine in the US
The CFR report, citing the Drug Enforcement Administration, called Mexican drug cartels the largest foreign distributors of heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine in the United States. As a result, Mexican drug cartels have substantial wealth, advanced weaponry and the ability to evade Mexican law enforcement.
To put in perspective how bad cartel violence has become, drug related homicides totaled 33,341 in 2018, according to the CFR Global Conflict Tracker. In addition, the Tracker found that the drug cartels had murdered at least 130 Mexican politicians and political candidates leading up to the 2018 elections. There have been over 37,000 unsolved homicides in Mexico since 2006.
Drug cartels have also been responsible for bombings, mass murders, and kidnappings that have terrorized the nation.
Some of the larger drug cartels in Mexico include the Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Juarez Cartel, Gulf Cartel, Los Zetas and the Beltran-Leyva Organization. Each of these drug trafficking organizations has substantial power and the ability to use violence against each other and the Mexican government.
For example, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel is suspected of shooting down a Mexican Army helicopter in Jalisco in May 2015 that killed six soldiers.
Despite Different Strategies to Combat the Cartels, Mexico’s Homicide Rate Continues to Rise
Despite different strategies implemented in Mexico to combat the drug cartels, the nation’s homicide rate continues to rise.
One of the challenges facing Mexico is that each president has come into office with a different strategy to combat the cartels. This has led to little continuity in drug control strategies, which may account for the continued strengthening of the cartels.
For example, Felipe Calderon was president from 2006 to 2012. He implemented a drug war that was based on a kingpin strategy. The CFR Backgrounder said Calderon deployed tens of thousands of military personnel to fight in the drug war, which targeted the cartel leaders.
As a result, the Mexican military captured or killed 25 of the top 37 Mexican cartel kingpins. However, during Calderon’s term there were over 120,000 homicides, double that of his predecessor, Vicente Fox.
Enrique Pena Nieto took office in 2012 and implemented a different strategy. Instead of focusing on removing drug kingpins, President Pena Nieto created a new national police force to reduce violence against the citizenry.
President Lopez Obrador Changed Direction Again and Declared the Drug War Over
Then in 2018, Mexico’s current president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, changed direction again. He declared that the drug war was over and, instead of pursuing drug kingpins, he would focus on reducing homicides.
On November 4, drug cartels ambushed and gunned down three American women and six children in Sonora state. The massacre prompted President Trump to state that he plans to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
In mid-October, Reuters reported that Mexican law enforcement agents briefly captured Ovidio Guzman, the son of famed Sinaloa Cartel kingpin El Chapo Guzman.
However, “Heavily armed fighters surrounded security forces” … and made them free Ovidio Guzman, “after his capture triggered gun battles and a prison break that sent civilians scurrying for cover,” Reuters added.
According to the CRS, the criteria for designating any group as a foreign terrorist organization includes those that “engage in or retain the capability and intent to engage in terrorism, and threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national defense, foreign relations, or the economic interests of the United States.”
If the Trump administration goes ahead with labeling Mexico’s drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, U.S. law enforcement may have an increased ability to combat the cartels that have interests, resources and representatives in the United States.
However, Mexico would likely vigorously contest this designation, fearing that the United States would become involved in combat operations against the drug cartels in Mexico.
About the Author
Dr. Jarrod Sadulski has over two decades of homeland security experience that has involved counter-drug and human trafficking operations. Dr. Sadulski is a faculty member with American Military University and frequently engages in public speaking events. Dr. Sadulski presented at the International Human Trafficking & Social Justice Conference at the University of Toledo on the topic of human trafficking in September 2019 and shared some of his research on human trafficking in Central America.
Dr. Sadulski also recently presented at the Southern Criminal Justice Association’s Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, in September of 2019 and will be traveling to Central and South America to further his research in the coming months. In addition to domestic speaking engagements, Dr. Sadulski has spoken in Europe and Central America on topics associated with human trafficking, narcotics trafficking, and police responses to domestic terrorism. He has been a faculty member with American Military University since 2011.
