While some problems may never be completely solved, it’s better to do something rather than nothing. The Mexican drug cartel problem is ever challenging for the Trump administration. All at once, he must remove millions of illegal immigrants, secure the U.S.-Mexico border, and address the underlying cartel problem plaguing the U.S.
Under dopey Joe and his nefarious administration, over 11 million immigrants entered the United States illegally.
Mexican cartels, human traffickers, and terrorists have free rein in over 50 U.S states.
Trump’s secretary of state, Marco Rubio, appeared to follow through on one of his pre-election promises: designating Mexican cartels as global terrorists. In a press statement, Marco Rubio stated:
As President Trump said in Executive Order 14157, cartels and other transnational organisations “threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere.”
The State Department announces the designation of Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Cártel de Sinaloa, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, Cártel del Noreste (formerly Los Zetas), La Nueva Familia Michoacana, Cártel de Golfo (Gulf Cartel), and Cárteles Unidos as FTOs and SDGTs.
A DEA report in May argued that cartels operate in 50 U.S. states. “The deadly reach of the Mexican Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels into U.S. communities is extended by the wholesale-level traffickers and street dealers bringing the cartels’ drugs to market, sometimes creating their own deadly drug mixtures.” The report also states, “Together, the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels have caused the worst drug crisis in U.S. history.”
The drug trade has found a particular home in Montana within Native American reservations, where the sale of fentanyl has skyrocketed in recent years. The Montana Department of Health revealed that opioid-related deaths tripled between 2017 and 2020. According to the department of human health and services, “The percentage of fatal drug overdoses in Montana involving fentanyl increased from 16% in 2020 to 50% in 2023.”
Speaking to news organisation NBC, former DEA agent Stacy Zinn commented, “”Up here in Montana, it’s pretty much wide-open space and territory for [cartels] to grab.”
After declaring the border crisis a national emergency, Trump sent 1,500 troops to help secure the influx of illegal immigrants entering the southern border. In his latest move, Trump has sent a Stryker brigade—a combat team of heavily armoured vehicles—to the border in support of operations. Department of Defence spokesperson Sean Parnell said, “These forces will arrive in the coming weeks, and their deployment underscores the Department’s unwavering dedication to working alongside the Department of Homeland Security to secure our southern border and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States under President Trump’s leadership.”
But Mexico didn’t play ball at first. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum dismissed U.S. military action in Mexico: “They are free to take action in their territory … What we will defend is our sovereignty and our independence.”
But Trump’s tariff threats worked to some degree. Fearful of the economic implications that tariffs would have on the Mexican economy, Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 of the Mexican National Guard troops to prevent further illegal border crossings and drug smuggling.
In further concessions to Trump’s tariff threats, Mexico recently extradited 29 of its drug lords to the U.S. If Mexico is controlled and owned by the cartels in the first place, are they just giving Trump temporary concessions?
In an intriguing move, Trump has sent the U.S. 7th Special Forces Group to train an elite element of the Mexican armed forces. Only time will tell what the future holds, but Trump may be crossing the Rubicon. But one thing is clear, there are no simple solutions on the table and Trump must tackle an illicit drug economy that stems from U.S soil. While the cartels are an organized criminal network embedded into he socio-political fabric of Mexico, they creating a supply for a demand that clearly cannot be denied. Solving the drug problem may have more to do with solving the need of taking drugs than with confronting the suppliers. While the situation is not that simplistic, it’s one that we often hear little about in the mainstream media.
Illicit drug supply is an undeniable criminal enterprise, its also one born in demand.
