Southern Border Crisis: Drugs, Human Trafficking, and Cartels

CommentaryAn estimated 20 million Americans are addicted to drugs. Fentanyl alone accounted for two-thirds of the 110,236 overdose deaths and killed over 73,000 Americans in 2021 alone. Fentanyl is now the main narcotic Mexican cartels are smuggling into the United States. The flow of illegal drugs through the southern border is the largest security threat to our nation and the one that the Biden administration is doing the least about. More drugs are being seized at the southern border than anywhere else in the nation, with over 5,000 pounds seized in San Diego alone. The DEA reports that Mexican cartels are increasingly importing precursor chemicals from China and manufacturing fentanyl to be sold in the United States. U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman described fentanyl as a “national crisis” in an August 2022 report. “The amount of fentanyl we are seizing at the border is staggering. The number of  seizures and fentanyl-related deaths in our district are unprecedented.” According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder were seized in 2022. Additionally, DEA seized nearly 131,000 pounds of methamphetamine, over 4,300 pounds of heroin, and 444,000 pounds of cocaine. This photo provided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Phoenix Division shows some of the 30,000 fentanyl pills the agency seized in one of its bigger busts in Tempe, Ariz. (Drug Enforcement Administration via AP) Even though Mexican drug cartels are now making more money from fentanyl than other drugs, they also make a lot from human trafficking. The Biden-era open borders policies have enabled the cartels to smuggle people into the United States in greater numbers. By some estimates, cartels are earning as much as $13 billion per year through human trafficking, and they use this money to hire more soldiers for their narcotrafficking operations. In April 2022, the Department of Homeland Security launched the “Counter Human Smuggler” campaign, whose $60 million worth of funding is a small fraction of what the cartels earn. The year 2021 showed a marked increase in cartel violence. Attacks on innocent civilians are becoming more and more common. Over the past six years, an estimated 140,000 Mexicans have been murdered largely by cartels, and the situation is getting worse. In Celaya, one of Mexico’s most dangerous cities, there were 800 homicides in 2020, a sharp increase from the 80 homicides reported in 2010. In 2021, homicides dropped to 640 cases, but hundreds went missing. The actual number killed may be much higher. The more cartel violence there is in Latin America, the more innocent people die, and the more people want to flee to the United States, exacerbating the problem. Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn introduced the DHS Illicit Cross-Border Tunnel Defense Act to combat the 230 tunnels beneath the U.S.-Mexico border used by drug cartels and human traffickers. The bill has yet to be signed into law as governors of border states feel the stress of a flood of illegal aliens and drugs. California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized President Joe Biden’s border policies, warning that an immigration crisis could break his state if Biden allowed Title 42 to expire. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott agreed, saying that if Title 42 expired, the southern border would be a scene of “total chaos.” Illegal immigrants who crossed the Rio Grande River walk along concertina wire in Eagle Pass, Texas, on May 22, 2022. (Allison Dinner/AFP via Getty Images) Both governors received an early Christmas present when the Supreme Court temporarily extended the immigration restrictions. A Department of Homeland Security spokesman responded by saying that with Title 42 in place, those who attempt to enter the country illegally will be returned to Mexico. He also asked Congress to increase funding for border security. The state governor who appears to be taking the most proactive stance on illegal immigration and the coinciding crime is Gov. Abbott, who inaugurated Operation Lone Star. This operation is a coordinated effort between the Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard to secure the border. The aim is to stop cartels, criminals, drug and weapon smuggling, and human trafficking. So far, Operation Lone Star has led to the apprehension of 336,000 illegal aliens and 23,000 criminal arrests, with 20,000 of those being felony arrests. In 2022, DPS seized over 354 million doses of fentanyl. Pew Research found that Republicans support border security and the deportation of illegal immigrants. In contrast, Democrats are more concerned about creating paths for those in the country illegally to achieve legal status. Drug and human trafficking will not be stopped by programs designed to help illegal aliens obtain work permits and green cards. If anything, this will invite more illegal immigration. For the time being, Title 42 will remain in place, although Biden believed that Title 42 somehow makes the border sit

Southern Border Crisis: Drugs, Human Trafficking, and Cartels

Commentary

An estimated 20 million Americans are addicted to drugs. Fentanyl alone accounted for two-thirds of the 110,236 overdose deaths and killed over 73,000 Americans in 2021 alone. Fentanyl is now the main narcotic Mexican cartels are smuggling into the United States.

The flow of illegal drugs through the southern border is the largest security threat to our nation and the one that the Biden administration is doing the least about.

More drugs are being seized at the southern border than anywhere else in the nation, with over 5,000 pounds seized in San Diego alone. The DEA reports that Mexican cartels are increasingly importing precursor chemicals from China and manufacturing fentanyl to be sold in the United States.

U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman described fentanyl as a “national crisis” in an August 2022 report. “The amount of fentanyl we are seizing at the border is staggering. The number of  seizures and fentanyl-related deaths in our district are unprecedented.”

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder were seized in 2022. Additionally, DEA seized nearly 131,000 pounds of methamphetamine, over 4,300 pounds of heroin, and 444,000 pounds of cocaine.

fentanyl pills the agency seized
This photo provided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Phoenix Division shows some of the 30,000 fentanyl pills the agency seized in one of its bigger busts in Tempe, Ariz. (Drug Enforcement Administration via AP)

Even though Mexican drug cartels are now making more money from fentanyl than other drugs, they also make a lot from human trafficking. The Biden-era open borders policies have enabled the cartels to smuggle people into the United States in greater numbers. By some estimates, cartels are earning as much as $13 billion per year through human trafficking, and they use this money to hire more soldiers for their narcotrafficking operations. In April 2022, the Department of Homeland Security launched the “Counter Human Smuggler” campaign, whose $60 million worth of funding is a small fraction of what the cartels earn.

The year 2021 showed a marked increase in cartel violence. Attacks on innocent civilians are becoming more and more common. Over the past six years, an estimated 140,000 Mexicans have been murdered largely by cartels, and the situation is getting worse. In Celaya, one of Mexico’s most dangerous cities, there were 800 homicides in 2020, a sharp increase from the 80 homicides reported in 2010. In 2021, homicides dropped to 640 cases, but hundreds went missing. The actual number killed may be much higher. The more cartel violence there is in Latin America, the more innocent people die, and the more people want to flee to the United States, exacerbating the problem.

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn introduced the DHS Illicit Cross-Border Tunnel Defense Act to combat the 230 tunnels beneath the U.S.-Mexico border used by drug cartels and human traffickers. The bill has yet to be signed into law as governors of border states feel the stress of a flood of illegal aliens and drugs. California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized President Joe Biden’s border policies, warning that an immigration crisis could break his state if Biden allowed Title 42 to expire. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott agreed, saying that if Title 42 expired, the southern border would be a scene of “total chaos.”

Epoch Times Photo
Illegal immigrants who crossed the Rio Grande River walk along concertina wire in Eagle Pass, Texas, on May 22, 2022. (Allison Dinner/AFP via Getty Images)

Both governors received an early Christmas present when the Supreme Court temporarily extended the immigration restrictions. A Department of Homeland Security spokesman responded by saying that with Title 42 in place, those who attempt to enter the country illegally will be returned to Mexico. He also asked Congress to increase funding for border security.

The state governor who appears to be taking the most proactive stance on illegal immigration and the coinciding crime is Gov. Abbott, who inaugurated Operation Lone Star. This operation is a coordinated effort between the Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard to secure the border. The aim is to stop cartels, criminals, drug and weapon smuggling, and human trafficking. So far, Operation Lone Star has led to the apprehension of 336,000 illegal aliens and 23,000 criminal arrests, with 20,000 of those being felony arrests. In 2022, DPS seized over 354 million doses of fentanyl.

Pew Research found that Republicans support border security and the deportation of illegal immigrants. In contrast, Democrats are more concerned about creating paths for those in the country illegally to achieve legal status. Drug and human trafficking will not be stopped by programs designed to help illegal aliens obtain work permits and green cards. If anything, this will invite more illegal immigration. For the time being, Title 42 will remain in place, although Biden believed that Title 42 somehow makes the border situation worse. The Supreme Court will begin hearings regarding the repeal of Title 42 on March 1.

While Title 42 remains in place and provides some protection against illegal immigration, as long as illegal immigration is possible, cartels will continue to make money smuggling drugs and people into the United States. The funding is then used to purchase weapons and soldiers, which leads to more innocent people in Mexico and Latin America suffering and dying.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Antonio Graceffo, Ph.D., China economic analyst, has spent more than 20 years in Asia, a graduate of Shanghai University of Sport, holds a China-MBA from Shanghai Jiaotong University, currently studies national defense at American Military University. He is the author of “Beyond the Belt and Road: China’s Global Economic Expansion.”