Secretary of State Antony Blinken ADMITS that parts of Mexico are controlled by cartels and not by the government, saying he would “consider” pushing for drug gangs to be designated as terrorist groups.
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed Wednesday that he believes parts of Mexico are controlled by drug cartels and not by the Mexican government.
- Testifying during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, he also said he would “consider” pushing for drug traffickers to be designated as terrorist groups.
- Blinken was being questioned by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who wants the cartels to be labeled Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed Wednesday that he believes parts of Mexico are controlled by drug cartels and not by the Mexican government.
Testifying during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, he also said he would “consider” pushing for drug traffickers to be designated as terrorist groups.
Blinken was being questioned by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who held a news conference earlier this month and said he wanted the cartels labeled terrorist organizations and pushed Congress to authorize the use of military force to destroy the cartels. Mexican drug laboratories.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Graham asked Blinken: ‘Do the drug cartels control parts of Mexico and not the Mexican government?’
“I think it’s fair to say yes,” responded President Joe Biden’s top diplomat.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed Wednesday that he believes parts of Mexico are controlled by drug cartels and not by the Mexican government.
Blinken was being questioned by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who held a news conference earlier this month and said he wanted the cartels labeled terrorist organizations.
Graham then asked Blinken if he believed that “fentanyl from Mexico is killing tens of thousands of Americans.”
‘Is. And he’s killing Mexicans too,’ Blinken replied.
From there, Graham asked Blinken the broader question of whether he believed US border policy was working to prevent fentanyl from crossing the southern border.
‘They need to do more. They need to be more effective,’ Blinken said.
Blinken then suggested that US technology for intercepting fentanyl could be improved.
“Ninety-six percent of the fentanyl that enters the United States comes from legal ports of entry,” Blinken noted. ‘We have the technology that can capture a lot of that. We need to deploy it faster.
Republicans on Capitol Hill have predominantly pointed out that migrant smuggling across the border is also how drugs get into the country.
The Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel has a presence in 24 of Mexico’s 32 states and has shipped cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and heroin mixed with fentanyl into the United States.
A bullet-riddled vehicle lies overturned on a street in Jesús María, Mexico, in January, the small town where Ovidio Guzmán was detained. Guzmán is the son of the famous Mexican drug trafficker ‘El Chapo’
‘How about this idea? Instead of just interdicting at the border, we go to the source and declare the Mexican drug cartels foreign terrorist organizations under US law, would you consider that?’ Graham asked Blinken.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had previously rejected the idea.
“Yes, we would certainly consider it,” Blinken said.
Jean-Pierre was asked about Graham’s idea on the same day as the press conference.
“Designating these cartels as (Foreign Terrorist Organizations) would not give us any additional authority,” Jean-Pierre said.
He argued that sanctioning the cartels through the Treasury Department was a better way to go after them.
“And this means that drug traffickers can no longer use family or friends to hide their assets from the reach of the US government,” he said. “So again, we don’t think this gives us any additional authority.”
