Federal officials on the southern border say the president’s designation of cartels as terrorist organizations put more teeth in gun trafficking enforcement.
Federal law enforcement officials along the U.S. Southern Border warned U.S. citizens that the Trump administration has added a new wrinkle to the crime of trafficking guns and cash into Mexico.
They said the Trump administration’s designation of Mexican Cartels as international terrorist organizations doesn’t just impact how the U.S. government deals with cartel and gang members from other countries.
Timothy Courchaine, interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, said instructions from the White House and the Department of Justice are unequivocal. His office will pursue terrorism charges against those who traffic guns to terrorist organizations because the security of Americans is at stake.
This includes U.S. citizens doing business with the cartels, he said.
“The mission here is a no-fail mission,” Courchaine said.
“There will be no mercy for those charges, because the cartels and foreign terrorist organizations have no mercy for others.”
Guadalupe Ramirez Jr., director of field operations for the Customs and Border Patrol field office in Nogales, said that anyone who does business with one of the designated terrorist organizations is involved in a “direct act of terrorism.”
He and representatives of Homeland Security Investigations, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona hosted a press conference at the Mariposa Port of Entry at Nogales, Arizona, on May 2.
They pointed out that one of President Donald Trump’s first actions in his second term was to designate certain cartels and other criminal groups as global terrorist organizations. The executive order invokes a previous executive order from the Bush administration.
Executive Order 13224, signed by President George W. Bush 10 days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, authorizes the government to prosecute and seize the assets of anyone offering support to a terrorist organization.
“Engaging in weapons trafficking, particularly to support designated foreign terrorist organizations, comes with severe legal consequences, including terrorism-related charges with long sentences, financial penalties,” Ramirez said.
The officials said that, as a rule, drugs and people are trafficked north across the border into the United States. Money, guns, and ammunition are smuggled south into Mexico.
