On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department under the leadership of President Donald Trump delivered some epic bad news for a total of 8 cartels and gangs running amok at the southern border, labeling them as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
This will provide an expanded list of options for how the current administration can handle these organizations. In other words, they cause trouble, we make them go boom.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking on the new designations — which were made in consultation with our new Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — came about after a sufficient factual basis was able to be established under the Immigration and Nationality Act to label the groups as FTOs.
“The FTO and SDGT designations were applied to the following criminal enterprises: Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha, Cartel de Sinaloa, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, Carteles Unidos, Cartel del Noreste, Cartel del Golfo, and La Nueva Familia Michoacana,” The Daily Wire reported.
“FTOs are designated by the State Department under the Immigration and Nationality Act while SDGTs are designated by the Treasury Department under Executive Order 13224. FTOs focus on organizations and there are criminal penalties for being involved with the organization. SDGTs on the other hand focus on the terrorist organizations, individuals, and their financial backers. SDGTs result in sanctions and asset seizures,” the article said.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has unleashed Reaper drones over Mexico as part of efforts by the president to change things up in the war against transnational drug cartels. The drones, however, are unarmed.
As of now, the drones are only being sent out on spy missions to gather intelligence on the cartels across the border. However, the CIA has the capabilities to arm the drones and then use them against foreign enemies — like I said, we make them go boom — which has been done in the fight against Islamic terrorists located in both the Middle East and Africa.
The designations of the cartels as terrorist organizations could lay the groundwork for using the drones to kill top cartel leaders and destroy manufacturing sites.
The CIA put out a statement saying “countering drug cartels in Mexico and regionally is a priority for CIA as a part of the Trump Administration’s broader efforts to end the grave threat from narco-trafficking. Director [John] Ratcliffe is determined to put CIA’s unique expertise to work against this multifaceted challenge.”
Mexican officials, powerless to counter the vastly larger and more powerful U.S. government, have downplayed the CIA drones flying over Mexico, claiming that they do “not violate national airspace,” according to Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum did not resist the notion of drones flying over Mexican airspace to fight the cartels.
“The important thing here, I think, in the declaration, which is what we have always proposed, is that they share information with the Government of Mexico,” she explained.
The president has several goals in mind for the agency, which include obliterating drug cartels, finding new and creative ways to undermine the commies in China, and trade wars.
Just one day after he was sworn into office, Trump was asked if he would ever consider sending American Special Forces into Mexico to fight cartels.
“Could happen,” Trump went on to say with a rather big grin on his face. “Stranger things have happened.”
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