The following article appeared on WashingtonExaminer.com on February 20, 2019.
Two freshmen House Republicans are spearheading an attempt to persuade the State Department to officially classify some international drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
According to a draft letter released Wednesday, Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Mark Green of Tennessee plan to ask Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to designate select drug smuggling groups terrorists because they meet the government's criteria of being foreign organizations with the ability to take part in terrorist acts and threaten the security of U.S. citizens, U.S. national security personnel, and national interests.
"Cartels are the problem and it is time we started acting like it. These cartels undermine our national security with a relentless attack on our border while trafficking in human beings and dangerous narcotics,” Roy said in a statement. “Cartels are endangering American citizens, our Mexican neighbors, and the migrants who seek to come here.”
The lawmakers identified the Reynosa/Los Metros arm of the Gulf Cartel, the Cartel Del Noreste arm of Los Zetas, and the Sinaloa Cartel's Jalisco New Generation arm as some of those meeting the criteria.
Green, a military doctor who was present at the capture of Saddam Hussein in 2003, said some organizations that move drugs across international borders rely on the same "barbaric tactics" ISIS and al Qaeda use, including "murdering and torturing innocents, destabilizing countries and assassinating members of law enforcement."
“Moreover, they threaten our homeland security. Our communities suffer from the powerful and dangerous drugs cartels make available to our citizens. Fentanyl and heroin overdoses have taken thousands of lives," said Green, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan during the war on terror.
The majority of drug cartels affecting U.S. security are based in Latin America, according to the lawmakers. A Congressional Research Service report found 150,000 people have been killed in Mexico as part of organized crime incidents since 2006.
Roy and Green added the drug crisis facing America stems from the opioid cartels moving into the country through the southern border.
The change in classification would make it illegal for anyone to assist cartels or their employees, block all identified cartel personnel from legally entering the United States, allow Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to block all cartel assets, and "further stigmatize these groups both at home and abroad."
Green's spokesman, Mitch Hailstone, said he "expects Republicans to join on something common sense like this."
