The Trump administration is fighting the Mexican cartels. But I never hear Trump talk about the massive contribution to the Mexican cartels.
U.S. drug addicts, after all, are the main consumers of the drugs sold by Mexican cartels. That makes American drug users the main financiers of the Mexican drug cartels. I wish President Trump would point that out.
Rising American demand for cocaine is one of the reasons that the CJNG (Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación) became the most powerful Mexican cartel. (CJNG Passes Sinaloa Cartel as Mexico’s #1 Drug Cartel – Thanks in Part to American Cocaine Consumers).
Now the boss of the CJNG cartel is a U.S.-born dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico, Juan Carlos Valencia Gonzalez (see here).
There are American citizens working for and with the cartels.
This chart, based on U.S. government data, shows, the majority of people arrested in 2024 for drug trafficking in the U.S. were American citizens:
Here’s a recent case from Del Rio, Texas in which the alleged smuggler was an American citizen.
Del Rio is located on the Rio Grande, across the river from Mexico’s Ciudad Acuna.
This incident was recently reported by US Customs and Border Protection: “U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations officers at Del Rio Port of Entry recently seized more than $1.7 million in cocaine.”
Here’s how it went down : “The seizure occurred on Aug. 4 at the Del Rio International Bridge when a CBP officer referred a 2013 Dodge Durango driven by a 29-year-old male United States citizen for secondary inspection. CBP officers conducted a secondary examination of the vehicle that included utilization of a nonintrusive inspection system. Upon a physical examination, CBP officers discovered 49 packages containing a total of 129.67 pounds of alleged cocaine hidden within the quarter panels of the vehicle. The cocaine had a combined estimated street value of $1,731,425. CBP seized the narcotics. Homeland Security Investigations special agents have made one arrest and have initiated a criminal investigation.”
Notice, it was a U.S. citizen carting the cocaine across the border. If we don’t recognize the American contribution to the Mexican cartels, how can we effectively fight them?