DEA Official: Mexican Cartels Smuggling Fentanyl Across Border With Impunity
Says U.S.-Mexico cooperation has deteriorated amid immigration surge
Mexican cartels are trafficking deadly narcotics into the United States with impunity, a top Drug Enforcement Administration official said on Monday.
Cooperation between U.S. and Mexican authorities to target cartels has deteriorated amid a surge of illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, Matthew Donahue, the DEA deputy chief of operations, told NPR. Donahue said Mexican law enforcement have cut off ties with the DEA, fearing punishment from the Mexican government if they cooperate with the U.S. agency—a breakdown that has helped cartels smuggle fentanyl and methamphetamines into the United States.
"It's a national health threat, it's a national safety threat," Donahue said. "[The cartels] do not fear any kind of law enforcement … or military inside of Mexico right now."
Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) blasted the Biden administration for the fallout with Mexican law enforcement, saying it fails to protect Americans.
"President Biden's policies aren't compassionate and they aren't protecting Americans," Cotton tweeted on Tuesday. "The Biden administration is making it easier for drugs to be smuggled into our country."
Within weeks of taking office, President Joe Biden overturned a spate of Trump administration policies that maintained strict border enforcement, helping precipitate a massive surge in illegal immigration. In March, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said the country is facing its worst influx of illegal immigration in 20 years. The surge has created both security and humanitarian crises: Federal authorities have apprehended multiple foreign nationals on terror watchlists at the border, and customs agents have detained thousands of unaccompanied minors in overcrowded facilities as they struggle to control the wave of illegal immigration.
A porous border and weak security ties with
Mexico have resulted in large influxes of
fentanyl, a highly addictive and lethal drug,
across the southern border. Between October
2020 and March 2021,
customs agents seized more than 2.5 tons of
fentanyl—a more than 300 percent year-on-
year increase. Since 2019, cartels
have enjoyed soaring profits due to increased
demand for the drug in the United States.
More than 90,000 Americans overdosed on
illicit drugs last year.
150 Migrants Apprehended, Armed Smuggler Arrested in Failed Smuggling Attempts near Border in Texas
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 150 migrants and an armed human smuggler in multiple failed human smuggling attempts over the weekend. The arrests took place as smugglers packed migrants into a variety of vehicles, including a stolen vehicle.
Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Austin Skero tweeted photos of multiple failed smuggling attempts where human smugglers packed migrants into vehicles. The interdictions led to the arrest of more than 150 migrants and at least one armed smuggler during vehicle stops by Border Patrol agents and other law enforcement partners.
Skero reported at least one of the human smugglers arrested had a gun in their possession. In another smuggling incident, agents recovered a stolen vehicle.
Skero also tweeted the punishment handed down to a U.S. citizen teenager who was recruited into the human smuggling business with promises of “easy money.” The 19-year-old convicted human smuggler now faces a sentence of 24 months in prison and three years of probation, Skero stated.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Face
DHS Chief: We Should Not See Borders as ‘Lines that Mark National Boundaries and Divide Us’
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, on Tuesday told the annual Washington Conference on the Americas the Western Hemisphere should not see borders as lines that divide nations, but rather “as a point of connection” that brings countries together.
“Rather than viewing borders solely as the lines that mark national boundaries and that divide us from one another, we should see borders as a point of connection, as the place where the flow of people and goods from different countries interact and intersect,” Mayorkas declared during the annual conference hosted by the Council of the Americas (COA) on Tuesday.
His comments came amid the border crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border fueled by a migrant surge, primarily from Central America’s Northern Triangle region (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador).
The flow of migrants is overwhelming DHS resources and the border agents who operate under the department, forcing the release of migrants into U.S. communities.
Many of the migrants reaching the border are unaccompanied children and families from Central America. Republicans have accused the Biden administration of pushing an open borders agenda.
Although President Joe Biden keeps insisting the border is closed, he struck a more welcoming tone as a candidate, and migrants keep coming in with some released into U.S. communities.
The Biden administration’s message is falling on deaf ears, in part due to online ad campaigns by human smugglers who promise guaranteed entrance into the U.S. under the current president.
Human smugglers, including those who rape women and girls during the journey, benefit financially from the influx of migrants.
Republicans have blamed Biden’s undoing of Trump-era immigration policies for the border crisis.
Mayorkas indicated that the Biden Administration is working on creating an immigration system where people are “treated with dignity and respect.”
“This is not inconsistent with enforcing the law and securing our border,” he added.
The governments of Guatemala, Mexico, and El Salvador have, directly and indirectly, blamed the Biden administration’s welcoming tone for the surge at the U.S. southern border.
Mayorkas also mentioned that DHS is working to ensure a robust and safe movement of goods and people across the Western Hemisphere.
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