By Antonio Graceffo
The United States is facing a crisis at its porous southern border, which 2.78 million undocumented aliens crossed in 2022 [1]. At the same time, narcotics are entering the country in unprecedented quantities, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seizing 267,222 pounds of illicit drugs in 2022. This total included 23,248 pounds of fentanyl, a drug which alone accounted for nearly 80 percent of the 110,000 overdose deaths last year [2] [3]. Mexican drug cartels use the border to smuggle drugs and people into the United States.
The cartels manufacture fentanyl and other synthetic drugs using precursor chemicals supplied by China. The drugs are then smuggled across the border by mules, including undocumented aliens. Inside the U.S., the drugs are distributed by transnational gangs, such as MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha). China helps the cartels to launder their money [4]. Due to the sophistication with which the drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) are operating, they can be considered transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) [5]. These cartels are responsible for more American deaths in one year than the entire Vietnam War, which killed 58,000 Americans. For this reason, DTOs should be considered a national security threat [6].
The cartels are earning an estimated $13 billion per year on human trafficking, plus at least another $12 billion from drugs [7] [8]. This money is used by the cartels to purchase larger armies and better weapons. Consequently, violence in Mexico is increasing as gangs have more of an incentive to fight each other for control of this lucrative business. This makes it harder for the Mexican government to eradicate the cartels, while also making it harder for the U.S. government to cooperate with the Mexican government.
The police and politicians in Mexico are, on the one hand, corrupt, as they are willing to accept cartel money to look the other way or actually aid in the manufacture and distribution of drugs. On the other hand, even the honest ones are coerced into working for cartels, who offer “plata o plomo,” money or bullets [9]. And so, the narcotraffickers continue to expand and to kill Mexican and American citizens directly, while also killing Americans indirectly with fentanyl and other illicit drugs. Illegal immigrants are often used as drug mules, or are trafficked into the country to work for street gangs, distributing the drugs.
Part of the threat to the U.S., other than the drugs and violence that comes over the U.S. border, is the possible destabilization of the Mexican government, which could trigger a massive influx of refugees and drugs.
In the 1980s, the Mexican gangs became organized in terms of drug trafficking, controlling territories and distribution markets. This brought them in conflict with one another, as they fought for control of these routes and markets. Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared a war on drugs in 2006, and deployed military force against the cartels. In 2012, President Enrique Peña Nieto altered the Calderon-era strategy, shifting away from confronting the cartels and instead concentrating on law enforcement and public safety. The Sinaloa Cartel’s Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was arrested in 2014, and extradited to the U.S. in 2017, creating a power vacuum which resulted in increased violence both within the Sinaloa Cartel and between Sinaloa and other cartels. There was a short-term decrease in crime after the reforms instituted by Peña Nieto, but corruption remained high, and by 2016, drug-related homicides had increased 22 percent. In 2017, a mass grave in Veracruz state was found to contain 250 bodies of those killed by cartels. Since 2006, an estimated 150,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence [10]
From 1917 through the 1980s, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (the Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI) was in control of the state, ruling Mexico’s local, state, and federal governments as an authoritarian regime which was successful in fostering the longest period of peace in the modern history of Mexico. The cartels bribed police and politicians in order to operate their drug businesses. The police were used as protection and as intermediaries between the cartels and the PRI. In 2012, with the election of Enrique Pena Nieto, the PRI returned to the Presidential Mansion. In the leadup to the 2018 presidential election, Mexican cartels killed at least 130 candidates and politicians [10]. Violence in Mexico had been steadily increasing, but has become even worse since the repeal of Trump-era policies. In 2021, drug-related homicides were up 15 percent. Additionally, the repeal of strict immigration policies in the U.S. has increased the appeal of being trafficked into the country, which means more money for the cartels. As the cartels earn more money, violence in Mexico increases.
Attacks on innocent civilians are becoming more and more common [11]. Over the past six years, an estimated 140,000 Mexicans have been murdered, largely by cartels, and the situation is getting worse [12]. In one of Mexico’s most dangerous cities, Celaya, homicides went from 80 in 2010 to 800 in 2020. In 2021, the number dropped somewhat to 640, but the government has dramatically undercounted [13] [14]. Hundreds of those who went missing in Celaya last year were not included in the homicide tally. As cartel violence increases in Mexico, more Mexicans are willing to pay the cartels to have themselves trafficked into the U.S., creating a vicious cycle of amplification. In 2022, Celaya was the site of a massacre, when gunmen killed 11 people in a single incident, including women and children [15]. By December 2022, the overall murder rate in Mexico had declined about 9 percent year-on-year, but this excluded those who were missing. Additionally, other forms of violence remained at record levels [16].
Internationalization of Crime
Initially, Columbian cocaine was shipped by sea and entered the United States through Florida. In the 1980s, the U.S. joined forces with governments in Latin America to combat the drug cartels. At first, these joint efforts enjoyed some success, but they resulted in the unintended consequence of deals being struck between Colombian cartels and Mexican criminal gangs. This resulted in Colombian drugs being trafficked by Mexican gangs into the U.S. through the Southern Border. Seeing the large sums of money the Columbians were earning, the Mexican cartels demanded to be paid in cocaine, which further increased the quantity of drugs hitting American streets. Mexican gangs then created their own distribution networks along the U.S. border, and with the additional money they were able to purchase more soldiers and guns, transforming themselves into sophisticated cartels [13] [17]. Now, through globalization and increased sophistication of the cartel business model, the menu of drug offerings includes fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine, with a certain amount of poppies and heroin.
Over the past few decades, criminal gangs have increasingly internationalized, until even the smallest local gang anywhere in the U.S. could be part of a larger TCO. The threat to U.S. national security posed by the transnational drug gangs increases with cooperation between drug trafficking groups, international terrorist groups, and transnational gangs such as MS-13 [18
Transnational Drug and Criminal Organizations
The Mexican cartels purchase precursor chemicals from China [19]. In 2019, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission identified China as the number-one source of the fentanyl and fentanyl-related chemicals and products which find their way into the United States. Law enforcement officials have observed a growing trend of Chinese nationals working with drug gangs in both Mexico and the U.S. [20]. Chinese entities are also laundering Mexican drug money through the Chinese financial system. Thomas Overacker, executive director of the CBP Office of Field Operations, stated that most of most of the fentanyl entering the United States does so through the southwestern border [20].
The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels manufacture most of the fentanyl which ends up in the United States [20]. The U.S. Treasury identified China as a primary threat for money-laundering risk, specifically citing their fentanyl business with Mexican cartels [21]. A 2020 report found that China was the world’s primary money launderer [20]. Once the drugs enter the U.S., the cartels use gangs such as MS-13 to transport and distribute them [4].
Weak Southern Border Policy
In February 2023, The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability held a hearing, in which U.S. Border Patrol chiefs testified about the situation at the southern border. Over the past two years, CBP has set records for seizures of narcotics, as well as the arrest of illegal border crossers and suspected terrorists. The Committee’s findings were that “President Biden and his administration’s policies created the worst border crisis in American history [22]. By removing deterrents, such as punishment for illegal entry into the U.S, the Biden administration has encouraged illegal entrances. Additionally, by providing a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, he has increased the attractiveness of sneaking across the border. As the people entering the country in this way are often poor and desperate, cartels can easily force them into gangs or prostitution.
Conclusion
The theory that narcotrafficking is a form of terrorism and that it is a national security threat is well-supported by the evidence. In fact, even President Biden publicly acknowledged the fact that the opioid epidemic is a national security threat. The narcotrafficking organizations match the definition of transnational terrorist organizations. In their home countries, they utilize violence and threats of violence to impede law enforcement or bring about political change. As transnational terrorists, they smuggle drugs, weapons, and terrorists into the United States which kill and injure millions of Americans. Additionally, they coordinate with known U.S. threat countries, such as China. Given the size of the threat, its transitional nature, and coordination with threat countries, it can be said that the narcotrafficking organizations pose a national security threat to the United States.
On the one hand, these drugs kill Americans through overdoses, while destroying millions of lives through addiction. On the other hand, increased drug flow results in more crime in the U.S., owing to street gangs such as MS-13. In Mexico, cartels’ greater income means more soldiers and more violence, which is threatening to destabilize the Mexican government, unleashing an even greater refugee problem in the U.S. Additionally, a portion of the money earned by the cartels flows back to China for the purchase of precursor chemicals and money laundering services.
Since most of the organizations smuggling drugs into the U.S. are entering the country through the Southern border, it seems that the hypothesis is also correct, that a weak southern border policy is exacerbating the problem. Stronger policies would reduce human trafficking into the U.S., while curtailing the flow of illegal drugs.
U.S. government agencies are recognizing the need for stronger policies to protect the Southern border. “The Department of Homeland Security, requesting that the Department of the Defense provide assistance under our 284-authority, which is our drug smuggling authority, which allows the Department of Defense to build fences, roads and lighting along the southwest border” [23]. The U.S. could utilize the Southern Command to secure the southern border and put a moratorium on illegal immigration. This would staunch the flow of drugs into the U.S. and deprive the cartels of the income they earn from human trafficking. Less drug money for the cartels would mean less money for weapons and soldiers [17]. This would make it easier for the government of Mexico to eradicate the cartels.
This article originally appeared in Modern Diplomacy on April 20, 2023
Endnotes
[1] Ainsley, J. (2022, October 22). “Migrant border crossings in Fiscal Year 2022 topped 2.76 million, breaking previous record.” NBCNews.com. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/migrant-border-crossings-fiscal-year-2022-topped-276-million-breaking-rcna53517
[2] The White House (2023, January 11). “Dr. Rahul Gupta Releases Statement on CDC’s New Overdose Death Data.” https://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/briefing-room/2023/01/11/dr-rahul-gupta-releases-statement-on-cdcs-new-overdose-death-data-2/
[3] Office of Governor Janet T. Mills. (2023). “Administration Statement on January-December 2022 Drug Overdose Report.” https://www.maine.gov/governor/mills/news/mills-administration-statement-january-december-2022-drug-overdose-report-2023-02-02
[4] Zemek, A. (2022, May 18). “Murderous Cartels, Illicit Drugs, and Human Trafficking: The Threat and Atrocity of America’s Porous Southern Border.” America First Policy Institute, May 18, 2022. https://americafirstpolicy.com/latest/20220518-murderous-cartels-illicit-drugs-and-human-trafficking-the-threat-and-atrocity-of-americas-porous-southern-border
[5] Congressional Research Service. (2019, August 15). “Mexico: Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking Organizations.” https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R41576/37
[6] Barr, W. (2023, March 2). “The U.S. must defeat Mexico’s drug cartels.” Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-us-must-defeat-mexicos-drug-cartels-narco-terrorism-amlo-el-chapo-crenshaw-military-law-enforcement-b8fac731
[7] Rogers, Z. (2022). “Cartels making $13 billion a year smuggling migrants across border, report says.” WPDE. https://wpde.com/news/nation-world/cartels-making-13-billion-a-year-off-smuggling-migrants-through-border-nyt-report-says-mexio-immigrants-coyote-texas
[8] Vallarta Daily News. (2022, March 11). “Mexican drug traffickers launder 25 billion dollars a year.” https://www.vallartadaily.com/mexican-drug-traffickers-launder-25-billion-dollars-a-year/
[9] Duncan, G. (2022, October 7). “Beyond ‘plata o plomo’: Drugs and State Reconfiguration in Colombia.” Cambridge Core. https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/abs/beyond-plata-o-plomo/638DE2FB4FAC3A1A529D00D5DB7B7039
[10] Center for Preventive Action (2023, January 6). “Criminal Violence in Mexico.” Council on Foreign Relations https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/criminal-violence-mexico
[11] Suárez, K. (2022, September 24). “Outbreak of Mexican cartel violence targeting innocents raises worries of what’s to come.” USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2022/09/24/cartel-violence-mexico-hitting-innocents-raises-worry-future/8083730001/
[12] Blears, J. (2022, December 3). “Violent crime on the rise in Mexico.” Vatican News. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2022-12/mexico-homicides-increase-drug-cartels.html
[13] Rizer, A. 2015. “Hannibal at the Gate: Border Kids, Drugs, and Guns – and the Mexican Cartel War Goes on.” St. Thomas Law Review, March 22, 2015. https://law-journals-books.vlex.com/vid/hannibal-at-the-gate-636909249
[14] Abi-Habib, M. and O. Lopez (2022, August 31). “‘Absolute Warfare’: Cartels Terrorize Mexico as Security Forces Fall Short.” New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/31/world/americas/mexico-cartels-violence.html
[15] Buschschlüter, V. (2022, May 24). “Mexico shooting: Gunmen open fire at hotel in Celaya.” BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-61562286
[16] Resendiz, J. (2022, December 30). “Murders down in Mexico, but violence still at near-record levels.” Fox 5. https://fox5sandiego.com/news/border-report/murders-down-in-mexico-but-violence-still-at-near-record-levels/
[17] Bensman, T. (2022, December 27). “Biden’s Border Crisis Is Fueling Growing Cartel Armies.” Center for Immigration Studies. https://cis.org/Bensman/Bidens-Border-Crisis-Fueling-Growing-Cartel-Armies
[18] Hesterman, J. L. (2013). The Terrorist-Criminal Nexus: An Alliance of International Drug Cartels, Organized Crime, and Terror Groups. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
[19] Standaert, M. (2021, February 28). “China’s fentanyl connection: the suppliers fuelling America’s opioid epidemic.” South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3123109/chinas-fentanyl-connection-suppliers-fuelling
[20] Greenwood, L., and K. Fashola. (2021, August 24). “Illicit Fentanyl from China: An Evolving Global Operation,” U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/2021-08/Illicit_Fentanyl_from_China-An_Evolving_Global_Operation.pdf
[21] U.S. Department of the Treasury. (2022, May). “National Strategy for Combating Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing.” https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/2022-National-Strategy-for-Combating-Terrorist-and-Other-Illicit-Financing.pdf
[22] The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. (2023, February 7). “Border Patrol Chiefs: Biden’s Border Crisis Is ‘Overwhelming.’” https://oversight.house.gov/release/border-patrol-chiefs-bidens-border-crisis-is-overwhelming/
[23] Media Roundtable Background Briefing on DHS Request for DOD Assistance in Blocking Drug-Smuggling Corridors Along the Southern US Border. (2020). In U.S. Department of Defense Information / FIND. Federal Information & News Dispatch, LLC.
