Texas AG Paxton demands Foreign Terrorist Organization designation for Mexican cartels
AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM) - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants the Biden administration to designate Mexican cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
He joined a Virginia-led multistate coalition in sending a letter to President Joe Biden and Antony Blinken requesting it.
Mexican cartels facilitate the smuggling and distribution of fentanyl into the U.S. along the southern border, often in cars driven by American citizens. Cartels and other criminal groups in Mexico have turned the production of the synthetic opioid into a clandestine industry that's a primary source of fentanyl in the U.S., according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
The letter specifically references the actions of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, while also recognizing other cartels ought to be designated as terrorist organizations as well.
The letter states: "Collectively, the destructive status quo caused by fentanyl and violence is costing hundreds of thousands of American lives each year. This catastrophic loss of life is inexcusable, yet it has received an anemic response from the federal government. To protect Americans from these terrorist organizations, you must take decisive action against the Mexican drug cartels by designating the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and other similarly situated cartels as foreign terrorist organizations."
Paxton and other lawmakers said classifying these cartels as FTOs would equip both federal and state law enforcement agencies with more aggressive tools to stop the violence and importation of fentanyl from across the southern border.
Since Biden took office, Republicans have sought to link the spike in fentanyl-related overdose deaths with the record numbers of migrants who have entered U.S. custody along the Mexican border. The Biden administration's handling of a historic influx of illegal border crossings, Republican lawmakers claim, has allowed fentanyl to be smuggled into the U.S. at higher rates and fueled the opioid crisis.
The letter highlights that a change in posture and designation would grant the DEA and other agencies "increased powers to freeze cartel assets, deny entry to cartel members, and allow prosecutors to pursue tougher punishments against those who provide material support to the cartels."
Paxton previously sent a letter requesting that the administration designate fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction and take further steps to combat the distribution of the lethal drug.
Last year, the DEA seized enough fentanyl to kill every American — more than 50 million fentanyl-laced pills and over 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder.
More than 70,000 people died of overdose from synthetic opioids alone in 2021, according to the CDC — a number representing two out of three of all fatal drug overdoses and more lives lost than the combined equivalent of U.S. military personnel killed during the wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
During the coronavirus pandemic, from 2019-2021, annual deaths in the U.S. from fentanyl nearly doubled.
