President Donald Trump’s team has taken multiple actions this week to slow drug smuggling into the United States, which has been a top priority for the administration throughout its first year.
After SIG commitment, US designates Colombian cartel as foreign terrorist organization
Representatives from six U.S. government agencies held the second Security Implementation Group meeting with their Mexican counterparts last week in Mexico City to further their joint efforts in combating fentanyl production and smuggling.
“Ending the illicit trade in fentanyl that kills thousands of Americans annually is a primary focus of this effort,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday. “The SIG is pursuing decisive action against financial institutions and individuals complicit in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of fentanyl and precursor chemicals. The delegations committed to accelerating joint efforts to dismantle Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), and other criminal groups, disrupt illicit revenue streams, and counter emerging threats.”
At the same time, the State Department announced it would be designating the Gulf Clan, which is based in Colombia, as a foreign terrorist organization and a specially designated global terrorist.
“The group’s primary source of income is cocaine trafficking, which it uses to fund its violent activities,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “Clan del Golfo is responsible for terrorist attacks against public officials, law enforcement and military personnel, and civilians in Colombia.”
Fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction
Trump signed an executive order declaring fentanyl, one of the most lethal drugs, a weapon of mass destruction on Monday, the same day U.S. forces in the Eastern Pacific targeted three suspected drug boats, killing eight people on board. The Monday strikes bring the growing tally to 25 vessels targeted and about 90 people killed in them since this strategy began.
Fentanyl, however, primarily comes to the United States through Mexico, and the Mexican cartels that produce it rely on China for the precursor chemicals.
Trump’s executive order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue criminal charges, sentencing enhancements, and sentencing variances in fentanyl trafficking cases and calls on Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to take actions against financial institutions involved in manufacturing or distributing the illegal sale of fentanyl.
Hegseth and Rubio brief lawmakers on boat strikes
War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Rubio briefed lawmakers on Capitol Hill about the ongoing military operations in the Western Hemisphere behind closed doors on Tuesday as well.
The first strikes during this new Western Hemisphere campaign, which took place on Sept. 2, have created a firestorm in Washington.
That day, the U.S. military targeted a vessel with “anti-personnel” munitions. After the initial strike, military officers realized two people had survived the initial strike, and Adm. Mitch Bradley ordered three additional strikes on the vessel to ensure there were no survivors, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), who spoke with reporters last week during a Defense Writers Group event.
Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has been one of the most outspoken lawmakers demanding the Pentagon release the unedited version of that attack. He told reporters that U.S. intelligence identified all 11 people on board and that they had links to the drug trade, but the extent of their involvement was murky.
“It’s one thing to be a ‘narco-terrorist’ and another thing to be a fisherman that’s getting paid $100 [who, a] couple times a year, runs on one of these boats to supplement his income,” Warner said.
Trump has said he would be open to releasing the video, but he has also backpedaled on that.
Hegseth maintained on Tuesday, after briefing lawmakers, that the department would not be releasing “a top-secret, full, unedited video of that to the general public,” citing “long-standing Department of War policy.”
The military has, however, released short clips showing each strike at the moment of impact.
Trump has threatened to carry out strikes in Venezuela, Colombia, and Mexico and has criticized the leaders of all three countries.
While much of the administration’s ire is directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is globally regarded as an illegitimate leader who claimed victory in an election he actually lost, Trump has also criticized Colombian President Gustavo Petro for criticizing the administration’s strategy toward Venezuela.
TRUMP SAYS HE HAS WATCHED VENEZUELA BOAT STRIKE VIDEO AND FLOATS FURTHER ACTION
“President Gustavo Petro, of Colombia, is an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields, all over Colombia,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in October. “It has become the biggest business in Colombia, by far, and Petro does nothing to stop it, despite large scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long term rip off of America.”
The Trump administration has maintained its effort is about counternarcotics efforts, but Trump has said Maduro’s “days are numbered” and discussed carrying out land strikes, which would be a significant escalation.
