US taxpayers have been fighting drug cartels that have sent over $3 billion to Mexico since 2008 and flooded the country with illegally illegal drugs, including fentanyl. Despite the infusion of US taxes injected into Mexico through the State Department's International Drug Law Enforcement Agency (INL) and USAID, the cartel is becoming stronger, not weaker.
Government Accountability Office (GAO) 2023 Report We focused on the dire consequences of the Meridien initiative and the bicentennial framework for security programs aimed at fighting Mexican drug cartels. The watchdog report was critical of the outcome of a program that did not ensure drug overdose was the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 18 and 45.
Decades of infusions of US taxes into Mexico by USAID and INL have also failed to produce meaningful results in their own country. As reported by Breitbart Texas, 191,600 record-breaking murders occurred during the sixth year of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO). The murder highlights his marked failure of “Abrazos, no barazo” or “Uncuddled, hugging not bullets.”
Amuro's strategy to combat deadly cartels was to engage in battle rather than addressing the root causes of cartel violence through social programs to combat poverty. He vowed to reduce the number of non-violent drug offenders in Mexican prisons. The funds sent by American taxpayers to Mexico have done little to help fight drug cartels to prevent Mexican violence from reaching levels not seen in modern history.
The GAO report focuses on the continued deterioration of Mexico's security situation, which has deteriorated significantly over the past 15 years. In addition to becoming one of the highest national murder rates in Mexico in the world, the report was critical of the extremely low prosecution rates of all crime cases in Mexico. 2022 State Department Human Rights Report on Mexico.
President Trump's tariff threat and Elon Musk's “doge” efforts to reduce levels of fraud, waste and abuse in US taxpayers distributed by USAID will turn to a bilateral counter-lag strategy in the US/Mexico is causing the latest changes. The current 30-day suspension on tariffs proposed by Trump may provide an opportunity for a short-term assessment of Mexico's latest efforts to reduce fentanyl production by powerful drug cartels.
Randy Clark He is a 32-year veteran of the US Border Patrol. Before retiring, he served as Chief of Law Enforcement Business and oversaw the operations of nine Border Patrol Bureaus in Del Rio, Texas. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @randyclarkbbtx.
