An initiative referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the US Congress would authorize the Armed Forces (FA) of the United States to act against “those responsible for trafficking fentanyl” or any substance related to that drug that reaches US soil.
Resolution 18 was introduced by Representative Dan Crenshaw, also on behalf of Mike Waltz, both Republicans, on January 12, but it gained attention this Sunday, in middle of the debate on the possibility of designating cartels as terrorists.
Called the Resolution on the Authorization of the Use of Military Force to Combat, Attack, Resist, Aim, Eliminate and Limit Influence”, or AUMF Resolution, would authorize the United States government to resort to the armed forces to act “against those responsible for trafficking fentanyl or a fentanyl-related substance into the United States” and also against those who carry “carry out other related activities that cause regional destabilization in the Western Hemisphere.”
The initiative He specifically names several cartels he would target for being related to fentanyl trafficking:
-Sinaloa Cartel
-The Jalisco New Generation Cartel
-The Gulf Cartel
-Los Zetas Cartel
-Northeast Cartel
-Juarez Cartel
-Tijuana Cartel
– Beltrán-Levya cartel
-The Michoacan Family, also known as the Knights Templar Cartel.
The initiative stresses that fentanyl “and fentanyl-related substances kill approximately 80,000 Americans each year” and that the consumption of fentanyl “is the leading cause of death among American men ages 18 to 45.”
It also points out that the Sinaloa Cartel, as well as Los Zetas, “they constantly engage in acts of violence among themselves and against other cartels, creating instability just a few miles from the US border.”
Remember that, in 2015, “The Sinaloa Cartel shot down a Mexican military helicopter with a high-powered weapon”as well as the failed operation to arrest Ovidio Guzmán in 2019, son of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias “El Chapo”what it ended in the release of Ovidio in the face of the attacks launched by the Sinaloa Cartel in Culiacán and its surroundings.
He also cited other cases, such as when “in 2022, a battle between cartels along the US-Mexico border caused the closure of two ports of entry” and when, the same year, “A grenade attack on the US consulate in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, forced employees to shelter in place.”
In which cases would the US use the armed forces against Mexican cartels?
For the above, the initiative would authorize the president of the United States a “to use all necessary and appropriate force against such foreign nations, foreign organizations, or foreign persons affiliated with foreign organizations as the President determines” who have violated section 401 of the Controlled Substances Act, or have attempted or conspired to violate such section, “with respect to trafficking into the United States of fentanyl or a fentanyl-related substance.”
It can also be used in cases where such foreign organizations “have trafficked fentanyl or a fentanyl-related substance out of the United States with the intent that such fentanyl or fentanyl-related substance be trafficked into the United States.”
A third case in which the action would be authorized is when the cartels “produced or trafficked in a substance that is a fentanyl precursor or fentanyl-related substance with the intent that such fentanyl precursor, fentanyl, or fentanyl-related substance be trafficked into the United States,” or when “Engaged in kinetic actions against United States federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial law enforcement personnel operating on United States territory or abroad”what “have participated in kinetic actions against police, military or other government personnel from a country that has a common border with the United States or with any other country in the Western Hemisphere” o “have made use of violence and intimidation in order to establish and control a territory to use it for illegal purposes”.
The mentioned cartels are those that will be considered as “foreign organizations” what meet the criteria to authorize the use of action by US military forces.
Approval of the initiative would be in the hands of Joe Biden
It should be noted that this initiative has not been discussed in the Foreign Affairs Committee. If voted on and approved, the decision would be left to President Joe Biden, who can sign or veto it.
just last week, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said that “I wouldn’t object” to declare drug cartels terrorists, something in which the Republicans insist more and more, but he stressed the concern for the diplomatic consequences that this would have with the Mexican government, and said that the best thing would be to have its support for such a designation.