:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/YYGEQQYK2FHZDLBMRH5DTEE4IQ.png "Why the United States Wants to Designate Mexican Cartels as Terrorist Groups")
Due to the increasing number of fentanyl overdose deaths, Republican politicians have recanted on more than one occasion that Mexican drug cartels should be listed as foreign terrorist organizations (OTF).
What is the terrible epidemic started by the CJNG and the Sinaloa cartel, according to the American prosecutor
Before his US Senate appearance, Merick Garland said he met Gertz Manero twice
The last to bring the issue back to the table was Senator Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) during a Judiciary Committee hearing, where the attorney general Merrick Garland was asked about the measures that have been taken so far against fentanyl.
“All we have is not working” cut Graham, who is considered the top Republican on the committee chaired by Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin (Illinois).
Caro Quintero’s nephew was linked to the process
On February 17, elements of the National Guard captured Carlos Guillermo Retes, a member of the Caborca cartel, while he was on a surveillance tour in a residential area of Chetumal, Quintana Roo.
Garland, for his part, was in favor of Graham’s statement, responding that indeed the ongoing actions against drug cartels were insufficient and did not reduce fentanyl trafficking.
“Senator Cotton has a proposal to significantly increase the penalties for fentanyl… We’re working to create a prevention plan that doesn’t exist,” Graham said, before asking the next question:
The Sinaloa Cartel’s Sophisticated Laboratories That Are in the Crosshairs of the United States
Unlike the clandestine laboratories of organized crime, these centers show great progress in the preparation and production of fentanyl and methamphetamine
“Should Mexican cartels be designated as terrorist organizations under US law?”.
Garlad said Mexican cartels are currently facing a “large number of sanctions” and then asked the Republican senator if he would oppose the designation of Mexican cartels as terrorists.
“I wouldn’t objectGarland said, although he noted the process would not be easy, primarily due to diplomatic implications with Mexico.
“I want to underscore the diplomatic concern, because we need Mexico’s support to designate (the cartels as FTO),” President Joe Biden’s government attorney said.
When asked if Mexico was indeed helping, Merrick Garland answered in the affirmative but added that the Mexican government could do “much more” to combat fentanyl trafficking.
“They help us (referring to Mexico) but they could do a lot more. I have no doubt about it“said the head of the Department of Justice during the appearance before the United States Senate.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than morphine and which is mixed with other drugs to enhance its effect, it is made in Mexico from precursors imported from China and then trafficked to the United States.
Garland considered the United States to be suffering from a “horrible epidemic” of fentanyl, which killed more than 100,000 Americans last year and that it is “caused” by the Sinaloa Cartel and the New Generation of Jalisco (CJNG).
“The drug dealers who manufacture these pills and distribute them in the United States are the most horrible people you can imagine,” declared.
The Republican Plan on Designating Mexican Cartels as Terrorists it’s not something new.
On October 19, 2021, Republican Representative Chip Roy (Texas) introduced a bill thus designate the “Reynosa/Los Metros” faction of the Gulf Cartel, and “Cártel Del Noreste” faction of Los Zetas as FTO.
On January 9, during President Biden’s visit to the border with Mexico in El Paso, Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott asked the president designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorists.
On Feb. 8, attorneys general in 21 states asked Biden to declare Mexican drug cartels FTO, citing that more than 100,000 Americans died last year from fentanyl.
In 2019, former President Donald Trump also had a plan in this regard, which did not move forward because the Mexican government considered it a “violation of its national sovereignty”.