Destroying the Mexican cartels requires offensive and defensive operations

By MG Paul E Vallely (RET)

You can no longer call these cartels drug organizations; President Trump changed the classification in January 2025 to terrorist organizations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained the classification this way: “I’m pleased to announce the Department’s designation of eight organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs).”

As President Trump said in Executive Order 14157, cartels and other transnational organizations “threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere.”

They are a well-organized military that controls vast swaths of territory across Mexico and conducts massive cross-border operations into the heart of America and Canada. The Mexican government and military are powerless to stop them, as the cartels own them – all bought off!

Alleged armed members of a Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel are found and arrested on the Texas side of the Southern Border, but many have entered our cities and are known as “getaways.” If these cartels decided to unite and cross over the southern border, our local sheriffs and border patrol would be dusted and rolled over in a heartbeat.

They cannot withstand this kind of firepower. Legislatures and county officials must allocate resources to local sheriffs and police departments so they can immediately add manpower and equipment to fight this possible eventuality.

They carry heavy 50 caliber sniper rifles, RPG-7, or rocket-propelled grenades, and PKM or Polemist Kalashnikov Full-Auto Machine Guns. Both are Russian-made and capable of incredible destructive firepower. Both are heavily used in the war in Ukraine. US border, from where the cartel also smuggles drugs into the US towns and cities. The weapons given to the Ukrainians by the US have been detected and used against US Border Patrol and soldiers at the border with Mexico.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT2kxwjmCzw – Cartel Wars on the Texas Border.

The Mexican Army claims that it has seized hundreds of fully automatic machine guns, dozens of grenade launchers, and a dozen rocket launchers from drug cartels since 2018. Now, Mexico’s top diplomats are demanding that the U.S. investigate to find out how these military-grade weapons are being smuggled into the country.

According to the Associated Press, Alicia Bárcena, Foreign Relations Secretary, called for immediate attention in January 2024. “The (Mexican) Defense Department has warned the United States about weapons entering Mexico that are for the exclusive use of the U.S. Army. An investigation into this must be carried out,” Bárcena said.

Ken Salazar, the former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, confirmed that the issue had been addressed in meetings and pledged that the U.S. would work closely with Mexico’s Defense Department to resolve it. “We are going to look into it, and we are committed to working with Sedena to find out what’s going on,” Salazar said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDXcYQRWL30 – Mexican Cartel Drones Are Now Taking Over The US Border.

The weapons were not identified as sourced directly from the U.S. military. Other potential sources for the guns may come from black-market trading or previous conflicts in the region. Mexican laws permit only low-caliber weapons to be owned by civilians, and the sale or trade of these weapons is strictly regulated. Previously, Mexico had filed lawsuits against American gun manufacturers, stating that they were aware that their weapons were being resold on the black market.

While the lawsuit was dismissed in 2022, an appeals court in Boston revived the suit. The appeal was granted because the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which protects gun manufacturers from misuse of their products by individuals, does not extend protection beyond the U.S. border.

In the complaint, Mexico claims that over 2% of the weapons made by the named companies, which include Beretta USA, Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Colt’s Manufacturing Company, and Glock, are smuggled across the border, amounting to over 500,000 weapons annually. The manufacturers cited as defendants in the suit deny any wrongdoing or knowledge of any activities alleged in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit revival and plea for a U.S. investigation came just one month after Reuters detailed a potential gun-smuggling ring in Racine, Wisconsin. U.S. federal arms-trafficking investigators allege that eight people facilitated illegal gun trade to the Mexican cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion.

All defendants have pleaded not guilty, and a jury trial was set for May 2024. Regarding the indictments, Alejandro Celoria, legal advisor to Mexico’s foreign ministry, said the U.S. firearms business should be more careful to ‘prevent their products from falling into the wrong hands.”

Some of Mexico’s most feared criminal groups, including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, use military vehicles in pitched gun battles with the police. Organizations like the Gulf Cartel and the Northeast Cartel use armored trucks to fight each other. Mexican security forces call these vehicles monstrous (monsters), but they are also known as rhinoceroses (rhinos) and narcotanques (narco-tanks). Cartels emblazon the exteriors with their initials or the latest camouflage patterns, sometimes making them hard to distinguish from official military vehicles.

Our southern border has been breached by illegal border crossers and the cartels’ movement of drugs to inner America. We must remain vigilant and aggressive and forge ahead with a more offensive-oriented border strategy. You cannot win and defeat this national threat by being on defense. This is the time for offensive action.

Prior to Trump 2.0, the Department of the Armed Forces of America was negligent in defending the United States and its citizens against an invasion of our country by external enemies. Destroying the Cartels requires offensive and defensive military operations.

The Commander-in-Chief, the national security staff, Director Tom Homan, and military commanders have successfully changed the paradigm to secure the southern border and allow the US rule of law to prevail.

No more kowtowing to special interest groups or claims by open-border believers and La Raza. The citizens of the USA have been in danger on a daily basis. They are being killed, or families harmed, because the border states of Mexico are controlled by thugs and terrorists copying Jihad tactics of mayhem and murder. Once again, the entire area is adorned with upheaval, violence, and lawlessness, as in 1846. The northern states of Mexico, Baja California Norte, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas, are under rogue control, and the Mexican Police and Army cannot control them.

The US government is executing an operational plan to secure our southern borders with the National Security Council, Department of the Armed Forces of America, Homeland Security, Intelligence agencies, and State assets.

The problems on and across our southern borders of California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas have been in the news daily. We have a war of gigantic proportions… illegal invasions, treacherous drug cartels, gangs, human trafficking, drugs (is there not a war on drugs???, smuggling, kidnappings, and corruption of officials on both sides of the border. The Cartels have fully controlled all levels of the Mexican Border and work with their international partner, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The plan I propose is essential and advanced unconventional/conventional war planning. This combines the best use of our forces, which will encompass intelligence, targeting, and structural organization of our forces to conduct the mission, base operations, and offensive and defensive operations.

First, organize three (3) Border Task Force Groups (BTFGs) and position them in three operational bases: Texas, Arizona, and Southern California. We have existing bases in those states that can be used, such as Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Huachuca, Arizona; and Camp Pendleton, California. There is no requirement to create any new operational bases. I will not name these existing bases because of operational security, but the Department of Defense can quickly figure this out! The BTFGs will be organized based on special operations and joint task forces in the Army, Air Force, and Navy. Selected units and personnel will be relocated to these designated bases. I would also declare, with Mexico, a 20-mile “No Go Zone” on the Mexican side of the border. Any group or persons occupying this zone engaging in criminal or illegal activities against Mexico or the United States will be involved on-site.

The command’s mission will be to target and conduct offensive and defensive operations on the Mexican side of the border. National Guard, Border Patrol, DEA, and local sheriff’s units will conduct border security operations on the United States side of the wall. This initiative does not violate any existing Posse Comitatus laws. The National Guard is and will be an asset to the state governors. It will augment the Active Force BTFGs’ operations on the US border. Maximum use must be made of our Special Operators, Delta Force, Special Forces, Seals, AF Special Ops, Rangers, Marine Recon, and Special Ops Air Assets, which are augmented by Active Force regular Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force.

The concerns and anxiety of Americans, particularly in the Border States, have grown significantly in the past few years. Changes in law enforcement operations have forced cartel mules trafficking drugs and illegal border crossers into ever more isolated areas, increasing the number of deaths and violence to a point where even the most hardened enforcement officials are overwhelmed. Global jihad and jihadis are a significant threat as they eye the southern border as a path of least resistance to strike inside the United States.

It is in the national interest of the United States to restore order on the border and across our borders. Positive action is being taken because of this clear and present danger to US Citizens and our economy.

Image: AP

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