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Texas Sheriff Says Mexican Cartels at the Heart of Border Crisis
[Epoch Times] WASHINGTON‐A porous southwest border is the gift that keeps on giving to Mexican cartels, whose multibillion-dollar businesses depend solely upon getting illicit goods into the United States.Sheriff Andy Louderback of Jackson County, Texas, said border security efforts need to focus more on disrupting the cartels. "The cartels remain at the heart of the problem here in the United States. They have unlimited funding. ... They’re very good at what they do. They’re very powerful, very powerful, in this country," he said. Louderback said the cartels are exploiting weak borders and are "profiting hugely off human misery in this country‐profiting off of Americans." "It’s imperative that the American public understand the criminality of what we’re facing. That alone is enough to secure the border," he said. Mexican cartels, otherwise known as transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), show continued signs of growth in the United States, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in a 2018 report. The cartels control lucrative smuggling corridors, primarily across the southwest border, and maintain the greatest drug-trafficking influence in the United States, states the DEA. "They continue to expand their criminal influence by engaging in business alliances with other TCOs, including independent TCOs, and work in conjunction with transnational gangs, U.S.-based street gangs, prison gangs, and Asian money laundering organizations," the DEA said. Posted by: Besoeker 2019-02-26 |
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