Here’s How Mexican Cartels Actually Operate in the United States Christopher Woody - Business Insider
go to original September 30, 2017

Acting Drug Enforcement Administration chief Chuck Rosenberg (The Atlantic)

President Donald Trump repeatedly referenced the threat of drugs and violence brought to the US by Mexican cartels during his presidential campaign.

Less than a month into office, he signed an executive order directing the federal government to "thwart transnational criminal organizations" and calling for the removal of foreigners involved in those organizations.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said repeatedly he plans to go after the illegal drug trade to bring down violent crime, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement has increased arrests of undocumented immigrants, expanding their search to those who were not previously targeted for removal.

But since Trump took office, his and Session's focus seems to be less on transnational criminal groups like Mexican drug cartels and more on criminal groups active in the US — specifically MS-13, formed in the US in the 1980s by Central American immigrants who were deported to their home countries in the 1990s, where the gang expanded rapidly.

But their response to MS-13 doesn't appear to be backed throughout the law-enforcement community.

Acting Drug Enforcement Administration chief Chuck Rosenberg and other DEA officials considered Mexican cartels more dangerous because of their financing and organizational complexity. Police chiefs from areas most affected by MS-13's presence have said Trump's policies would have a negative impact on efforts against the gang.

Sessions and Trump have not backed off their positions, and Rosenberg reportedly plans to leave the DEA on October 1.

What policies his successor pursues remain to be seen, but any effort to combat the drug trade by going after gangs and cartels will need to account for the distinct roles those organizations play in that lucrative and resilient trade.

Read the rest at Business Insider

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Related: Border Security Is Tougher Than Ever, Department of Homeland Security Report Finds (he Washington Post)

Related: Fact Check: Trump’s Claim That a Wall Will ‘Stop Much of the Drugs from Pouring Into This Country’ (The Washington Post)

Related: How Mexico's Zetas Drug Cartel Set Up Shop at the Los Alamitos Race Course (OCWeekly)

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