Will Trump’s war on the cartels spill over to the U.S.? Earlier this month, two Americans were killed and a third injured when their truck ran over a suspected Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by a cartel close to the U.S.-Mexico border.
The 74-year-old Texas rancher who was killed, Antonio Céspedes Saldierna, ranched on both sides of the border.
The incident happened on his ranch on the Mexican side of the border in Tamaulipas, Mexico, just south of Brownsville, Texas, but the victims were taken to a hospital in the U.S.
Another man, Horacio Lopez Peña, was also killed in the blast, while Lopez’s wife, Ninfa Griselda Ortega, was hospitalized with injuries.
The New York Post reported that Saldierna’s son Ramiro Céspedes, a U.S. Army veteran who was injured by an IED during a deployment, was shocked to learn of his father’s killing back home.
“I consider this a terrorist attack because if I went to war to fight terrorists, and I’m seeing the same thing here to me—my personal opinion—it is a terrorist attack,” Ramiro said.
Has the war with the cartels already gone kinetic?
While we may not see major cartel incursions into the U.S., or the 82nd Airborne Division parachuting into Mexico or the SEALs bashing down doors on cartel mansions in Guadalajara anytime soon, expect things to get more dangerous.
Border agents have received warnings about increased threats from cartels and the Trump administration has responded by designating several of them as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs).
The designation empowers the Treasury Department and U.S. law enforcement to aggressively target financial resources used by these groups.
Michael Ballard, director of Intelligence for Global Guardian LLC, a private security firm said, according to the Border Report: “It’s going to give FBI, DEA, CIA more levers they can pull going after shell companies and anyone helping them launder money – knowingly or unknowingly.”
President Trump has also pressured the Mexican government to send troops to the border and allow U.S. aerial and drone surveillance of the cartels.
While I have long supported taking stronger action against the cartels, one possible consequence of Trump’s action may be that the cartels begin to target Americans on both sides of the border.
If the U.S. and Mexico begin to inflict serious damage on cartel finances or jailing many of its leaders, there’s always the risk that these groups will lash out. (RELATED: Mexico Extradites 29 Cartel Members)
Border Report notes:
…the terror group designation and Mexico’s newfound willingness to give U.S. law enforcement more leeway south of the border will weigh heavily on the leaders of criminal organizations. It might even back them into a corner – which could pose risks for American officials and visitors to Mexico.
Note that 10 U.S. special forces operatives are reportedly training Mexican marines on tactics they could use against cartels, they are not there as the post above implies on actual special operations against the cartels. At least not yet.
The Report continues:
“What are the cartels going to do? That is the big question everyone has,” Ballard said. “My worst-case scenario is these cartels have a lot of money, lot of firepower, a lot of armored vehicles. [….] You could see these groups morph into an insurgency a la FARC and ELN in Colombia. Those groups started as insurgencies, as guerilla groups and used drugs to fund their militancy. You could see the same but in reverse with drug trafficking groups turn into militant groups.”
More likely, if backed into a corner and laying low no longer serving a practical purpose, Mexican cartels could experience further fracturing and discard restraints on kidnappings and extortion.
“You could see some of these cartels targeting American businesspeople or travelers in a way they were previously afraid to do,” Ballard said. “If your assets, your operations get disrupted, you may feel like, ‘What do I have to lose? The attention of U.S. is already here. We are already public enemy No. 1.’”
The big question is, if the Mexican cartels significantly ramp up their violence against Americans, what will President Trump and the U.S. do in response?
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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They are just as bad as any foreign country enemy. They are actually WORSE as the kill for money greed.
Why aren’t we killing the rotten nasty cartel punks by the hundreds????
They have their lives to lose! Then what good will have come from being the giant cartel drug pushers? Money will do them no good if they are dead!