Mexican Drug Cartels Pose a Greater Danger to the U.S. than al-Qaeda
Several months ago, I was a guest at a dinner sponsored by a major security organization and found myself in the company of a dozen police chiefs of the biggest cities and ports in the country. As they were trading stories about the various challenges of their jobs, I asked: “What do you consider to be the major foreign threat in the areas you police?”
The police chief of a prominent southern city turned to me and answered, “Well, it’s not Islamic extremists.”
“What is it then?” I asked.
He looked at an executive from the organization Crime Stoppers USA, who was also at the table, and the two of them answered together, “The Mexican drug cartels.”
“Really?”
He went on to explain that the cartels had tremendous economic clout because of the estimated $40 to 65 billion a year they earned from the drugs sold in the United States.
The police chief of one of the top three ports in the country agreed. He said, “Whatever we spend on new technology, they outspend us at least three-to-one. I’m talking submarines, high-tech drop zones underwater, and specially designed shipping containers with compartments engineered to evade detection. These guys are sophisticated, and they’re willing to spend money.”
The executive from Crime Stoppers added, “They also have reach. By that, I mean they have people in practically every city and town in the country.”
He talked about the challenges the cartels and their assassins posed to small towns and cities near the U.S.-Mexican border. These communities were seeing a dramatic increase in drug-related murders and kidnappings. He mentioned several recent cases of attractive American teenage women who were either lured across the border and kidnapped or nabbed off the streets of their own communities and given to cartel associates as presents. Most of these young women were never heard from again.
At that point, the police chief of a Midwestern city spoke up. He said that there had recently been a drug-related murder in his city. The crime was investigated and two young Mexican members of a certain drug cartel were arrested. One night he was at home watching TV with his family when got a call. According to the police chief, the subsequent conversation went like this:
Unidentified Man: “Hello. Is this Chief XYZ?”
Chief XYZ: “Yes, it is. Who is this?”
UM: “Did you recently arrest two Mexican men by the name of XXX and YYY?”
Chief: “Yes, we did. Why?”
UM: “They’re associates of mine, and I want them released.”
Chief: “Well, they’ve been charged with a serious crime, so that’s not going to happen. Who are you, and how did you get my number?”
UM: “Maybe you need to think about that.”
Chief: “What are you talking about?”
UM: “Me and the people I work for know the route your wife drives to work and where your son goes to school. If you don’t want anything to happen to them, you’d better do as I say.”
The police chief was shocked by the audacity of the caller and the fact that he had reached him at home. Subsequent investigation revealed that the caller was a member of the same drug cartel.
Many of the police chiefs at the table had had similar experiences. One of them summed up the situation: “We spend billions of dollars fighting Islamic terrorism in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, when there’s a much bigger, more dangerous threat right across the border. And we’re funding it. That’s the big irony, and it’s literally biting us in the ass.”
Ralph Pezzullo is a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning playwright, screenwriter and journalist. He co-authors the SEAL Team Six series with retired NAVY Seal Don Mann.
SEAL Team Six: Hunt the Jackal, set amidst the drug cartels in Mexico, will be available in stores May 13 (Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | iBooks)
