Tag: Mexican Drug Cartels

State AGs Tell Biden to Designate Mexican Drug Cartels as Terrorist Organizations

The attorneys general for 21 states have urged the Biden administration to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) under federal law, pointing to the rising fentanyl crisis. In a letter (pdf) to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the coalition of attorneys general—led by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican—said that declaring Mexican…


Mexican Police Arrest Cartel Boss Charged with Murder-for-Hire of Lawyer in Texas

A Mexican cartel boss wanted for the murder of a lawyer in Texas, who was gunned down in broad daylight in a busy shopping center nearly a decade ago, was captured over the weekend. On Saturday, José Rodolfo Villareal-Hernández, also known as “El Gato,” was arrested by authorities in Atizapán de Zaragoza, Mexico, the FBI Dallas…


China’s Role in Illicit Fentanyl Running Rampant on US Streets

News Analysis Fentanyl overdose has become the leading cause of death for young Americans since 2019. U.S. authorities say that China remains the primary source of the precursor chemicals, which are then processed and manufactured into synthetic opioids by Mexican drug cartels to bring into the United States. In response to the rising threat of…


Trump Vows to Wage War on Mexican Drug Cartels With Full Force of US Military

Former President Donald Trump said on Jan. 5 that if he’s successful in his bid for the presidency in 2024, he will order the U.S. military to crush Mexican drug cartels and show them “no mercy.” Trump made the announcement as President Joe Biden was preparing to make his first visit to the U.S.–Mexico border…


McCarthy Calls for Mayorkas to Resign, Says House GOP Will Investigate ‘Every Order, Every Failure’

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Tuesday the House of Representatives will convene impeachment procedures against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas when the new 118th Congress convenes Jan. 3, 2023. McCarthy, who is expected to succeed Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as Speaker of the House, told reporters in El Paso at the U.S….


Opioid Deaths Mount as States Battle Cartels, Drug Smugglers at US-Mexico Border

On Sept. 8, as Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey toured a wall of shipping containers stacked two-high along the state’s southern border in Yuma, he declared the barrier would stem the flow of illegal migration and drug smuggling from Mexico into the United States. A month earlier, Ducey, a Republican, signed an executive order authorizing the…


Turf War Between Drug Cartels Casts A Shadow Over Mexico’s Tourism

Shots fired between rival drug cartels—near the Azul Beach Resort Riviera Cancun and Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun in the resort town of Puerto Morelos—left guests shaken and administrative officials scrambling to do damage control in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The Nov. 4 incident further damaged the image of a state already hammered by another drug…


Turf War Between Drug Cartels Casts Shadow Over Mexico’s Tourism

Shots fired between rival drug cartels—near the Azul Beach Resort Riviera Cancun and Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun in the resort town of Puerto Morelos—left guests shaken and administrative officials scrambling to do damage control in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The Nov. 4 incident further damaged the image of a state already hammered by another drug…


GOP Senators Tell Biden to Drop Plan to Create Illegal Immigrant Millionaires

A group of Republican senators want President Joe Biden to drop his administration’s reported plan to pay more than $1 billion to illegal immigrants whose families were separated by federal immigration authorities under Donald Trump. The payments would be made by the federal government to settle litigation filed on behalf of hundreds of such illegal…