Secretary of State Antony Blinken ADMITTED parts of Mexico are controlled by cartels, not the government – and said he would ‘consider’ pushing for drug gangs to be classified as terrorist groups
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed on Wednesday that he believes parts of Mexico are controlled by the drug cartels and not the Mexican government
- During his testimony before a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, he also said he would “consider” pushing for the drug smugglers to be classified as terrorist groups
- Blinken was questioned by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who wants cartels labeled as foreign terrorist organizations
Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed on Wednesday that he believes parts of Mexico are controlled by the drug cartels, not the Mexican government.
While testifying to a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, he also said he would “consider” pushing for the drug smugglers to be classified as terrorist groups.
Blinken was questioned by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who held a news conference earlier this month and said he wanted cartels labeled as terrorist organizations and urged Congress to authorize the use of military force to destroy Mexican drug labs .
At Wednesday’s hearing, Graham asked Blinken, “Do the drug cartels control parts of Mexico and not the government of Mexico?”
“I think it’s fair to say, yes,” President Joe Biden’s top diplomat replied.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed on Wednesday that he believes parts of Mexico are controlled by the drug cartels and not the Mexican government
Blinken was questioned by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who held a news conference earlier this month and said he wanted cartels labeled as terrorist organizations.
Graham then asked Blinken if he believed “that fentanyl coming out of Mexico is killing tens of thousands of Americans.”
‘It is. And it kills Mexicans too,’ Blinken replied.
From there, Graham Blinken posed the broader question of whether he believed the US border policy was working to prevent fentanyl from flowing across the southern border.
‘They have to do more. They have to be more effective,” said Blinken.
Blinken then suggested that US technology to intercept the fentanyl could be improved.
“Ninety-six percent of the fentanyl coming into the United States comes through legal gateways,” Blinken noted. ‘We have the technology that can handle a lot of that. We need to deploy it faster.’
Republicans on Capitol Hill have mainly pointed to the migrant traffic coming across the border, as well as the way drugs enter the country.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is present in 24 of Mexico’s 32 states and has shipped cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl-laced heroin to the United States
A vehicle riddled with bullets lies on the street in Jesus Maria, Mexico, in January, the small town where Ovidio Guzman was held. Guzman is the son of the infamous Mexican drug lord ‘El Chapo’
“How about this idea – instead of just interdicting at the border, we go to the source and declare 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 dismissed the idea.
“Yes, we would certainly consider that,” Blinken said.
Jean-Pierre was asked about Graham’s idea on the same day as the press conference.
Designate these cartels as [Foreign Terrorist Organizations] would not grant us additional powers,” said Jean-Pierre.
She argued that punishing cartels through the Treasury Department was a better way to go after them.
“And this means drug traffickers can no longer use family or friends to hide their assets from the reach of the US government,” she said. “So again, we don’t believe this will give us additional powers.”