Top US and Mexican officials are discussing how to address the issues surrounding illegal “economic migrants” and the Mexican drug cartels. The US has considered whether to send into Mexico, American military special operators, law enforcement, or diplomats to handle the mounting challenges the Biden Administration faces in countering the cross-border drug trade and illegal immigration. Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley is against sending in US troops to improve border security and stem the flow of drugs like fentanyl into the US. He argues that the military should not lead American counter-drug efforts or operate against the cartels without the Mexican government’s permission. General Milley and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin both testified in Senate and House hearings on the president’s defense budget request and faced bipartisan questioning about the possible use of the military or other possible measures.
The problem with leaving it to Mexico to resolve, analysts point out, is that the country is effectively a failed state and the government, including its military and local law enforcement, are incapable of handling illegal immigration or eliminating the drug cartels. Milley favors training local Mexican police officers and asking the Mexican military to stem the drug trade. Many are paid by the cartels, threatened if they won’t cooperate, and murdered when they do stand up. Restricting the purchase of guns in Mexico has not resolved the problem. There is a single legal gun store in Mexico and the country has issued only 50 gun permits. “Between 70 to 90 percent of guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico can be traced back to the US. Drug cartels, in particular, buy those weapons in the U.S., mostly in Texas or Arizona, and smuggle them across the border,” says Lisa Mineo, writing in the Harvard Gazette.
In an exclusive interview with Defense One, Kevin Baron notes that Milley admits “…it’s a serious problem. It’s a huge problem.” He adds that several Republicans, including Rep. Morgan Luttrell (TX-R), this week asked about or called for the Biden administration to designate Mexico’s cartels as terrorist organizations, instead of transnational criminal organizations. “That’s the same thing, in my opinion,” Luttrell said in a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday. Cartels are responsible for upwards of 100,000 Mexicans who have been “disappeared,” a term referring to the kidnapping and possible killing of people. On average the cartels in Mexico kill a confirmed 20,000 every year. That violence has crossed into the US and the transnational criminal organizations are spreading across our country.
Donald Trump says the problem is out of control and has asked for “battle plans” to be drawn up to “conduct specific military operations to destroy the cartels, according to Rolling Stone Magazine this week. The Trump policy paper reportedly says “It is vital that Mexico not be led to believe that they have veto power to prevent the US from taking the actions necessary to secure its borders and people.” Milley responded to the report saying “I wouldn’t recommend anything be done without Mexico’s support.”
Milley suggests that the drug trafficking trade has not risen to the level of a national security threat to our country and that it is fundamentally a law enforcement issue, calling it “a crime.” He added that most people coming across the border were “economic migrants” and that the US Government does not know their intent. “ The fentanyl they push is killing thousands on both sides of the border. In Mexico, they torture and kill journalists to silence them, battle law enforcement and the military, and terrorize civilians,” writes Baron. Last week the Justice Department announced charges against more than 24 members of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, including the three sons of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, in a fentanyl-trafficking investigation; only one is in custody in Mexico. According to US Justice Department officials, those charges include a broad swath of the Sinloa network with members from China and Guatemala accused of supplying the precursor chemicals needed to make the drugs. Two Chinese firms were also sanctioned by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control last week. In 2021,a record of almost 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses despite fentanyl seizures by US Customs and Border Protection increasing by more than 400% since 2019.
The Sinaloa cartel, which provides most of the fentanyl available in the US, is an extremely violent group that is known to torture its perceived enemies, including Mexican officials, and have fed many of their enemies alive to the cartel’s tigers, according to US Attorney General Garland. Other senior Biden Administration officials briefing reporters after the announcement of the indictments said Washington is turning to allies in Europe and the Middle East to ask China to do more to solve the cross-border drug problem. It appears that once again Washington is leading from behind.
Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept.
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