U.S. Officials Protect Mexican Drug Lords

• Retired Border Patrol officers explain why amnesty could lead to explosion of illegal trafficking

By John Friend

In late July, a group of retired United States Border Patrol agents, writing on behalf of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO), released a public letter warning the American people that violent Mexican drug cartels are operating all across the U.S., building networks, recruiting assets, and cementing their dominance over the lucrative, and socially destructive, drug trade.

What many Americans fail to realize, however, is that leading politicians from both major political parties are actually helping the drug cartels, or at least enabling and protecting their activities— knowingly or unknowingly.

The shocking letter reads in part:

Transnational criminal enterprises have annually invested millions of dollars to create and staff international drug and human smuggling networks inside the United States; thus it is no surprise that they continue to accelerate their efforts to get trusted representatives in place as a means to guarantee continued success. We must never lose sight of the fact that the United States is the market place for the bulk of transnational criminal businesses engaged in human trafficking and the smuggling, distribution and sale of illegal drugs. Organized crime on this scale we are speaking about cannot exist without political protection.

Readers of AMERICAN FREE PRESS are no doubt familiar with the sordid history of criminal elements in the American military and intelligence agencies, oftentimes working in conjunction with corrupt factions operating in the U.S. Congress and White House, and their role in facilitating and benefiting from the illegal drug trade. In 1996, Gary Webb, the courageous reporter with the San Jose Mercury News, documented the role of the Central Intelligence Agency in facilitating South American cocaine being trafficked into some of America’s largest cities, which led to the “crack” epidemic still plaguing many parts of America today. In the years since, whistleblowers and former military and intelligence operatives have come forth describing the myriad intrigues connecting the American political establishment, mainstream mass media, drug cartels and organized crime in the international drug trade.

A number of mainstream media reports have confirmed much of what NAFBPO is saying. Mexican drug cartels are indeed operating in thousands of American cities and towns all across the nation – and they have been for some time now. The city of Chicago – over 1,400 miles from the Mexican border – named the infamous Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán as “Public Enemy No. 1” last February due to his cartel’s expanding clout in the Windy City. Many seasoned U.S. law enforcement experts are increasingly concerned that the drug cartels, once firmly established, will extend their activities into other areas of organized crime. Mexican drug cartels are already notorious for extreme violence and being heavily involved with human trafficking, including prostitution.

Dr. David A. Shirk, Associate Professor of Political Science and the Principal Investigator of the Justice in Mexico Project at the University of San Diego, is disturbed by the lack of knowledge and specific, detailed information relating to the activities of Mexican drug cartels operating in the United States. “No one knows how extensive Mexican drug trafficking networks are in the United States, but it is fair to assume that there is substantial capacity to operate and access mid level distribution markets,” Dr. Shirk explained to this reporter. “The problem is that there has been little serious effort to understand how distribution networks really work in the United States from the border to the consumer.”

Robert Trent, the Secretary and Treasurer of NAFBPO, told AFP that the activities of the various drug cartels operating all across the U.S., which has been widely documented in the mainstream mass media and by our own United States Justice Department, “will be significantly bolstered by granting any form of immigration amnesty that would legalize the cartels’ foot soldiers and managers that reside illegally here in America.”

Americans would be wise to take Mr. Trent’s warning seriously, especially as the push for granting American citizenship to millions of illegal aliens residing in the U.S. increases in the coming months.

Mr. Trent went on to say, “America is a sovereign nation and has a right to defend its borders from intruders and enforce its immigration laws throughout the United States.” The problem, however, is that on a bipartisan basis the American political establishment has failed to adequately enforce current immigration laws already in place, and has hindered American law enforcement, Customs and immigration officials, and others dealing with immigration issues to fulfill their duties as protectors of America’s borders. Establishment Democrats and Republicans appear to be more interested in placating and even assisting illegal immigrants secure federal and state social welfare and other economic benefits, rather than enforcing existing immigration policy and adequately protecting our borders.

“Unfortunately, the current administration chooses not to enforce these laws, which simply encourages more to come illegally and remain here until we lower our guard,” Mr. Trent explained. “We had an amnesty in 1986 and our elected officials told us then that it would be the last. They said they had included enforcement protections in the amnesty bill that would prevent a future build up of illegals in America.”

Policing and securing a nation’s borders, in addition to formulating and enforcing a rational immigration policy, are two key responsibilities for any sovereign nation – and America’s political establishment is failing to fulfill these essential duties.