US to pursue ‘total elimination of cartels;’ Sheinbaum says they should start at home

After the U.S. authorities announced connected Wednesday that it intended “to prosecute full elimination of Cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum encouraged Washington to archetypal code U.S. home issues related to cause trafficking.

On Feb. 5, the U.S. Attorney General’s Office published a memo for each Department of Justice (DOJ) employees announcing that President Donald Trump had issued a directive urging the national authorities “to revise existing nationalist information and counter-narcotics strategies.”

Sheinbaum responded during her Friday greeting quality conference, saying “They should commencement with their ain country; of course, we are going to coordinate and collaborate, arsenic I said connected Thursday — ne'er subordination oregon interference; it is coordination.”

The memorandum stated that the DOJ “must harness [its] resources … and empower national prosecutors passim the state to enactment urgently with the Department of Homeland Security and different parts of the authorities toward the extremity of eliminating these threats to U.S. sovereignty.”

Ioan Grillo, a Mexico-based writer who focuses connected transgression and drugs, lauded the conception of hitting cartels hard successful a societal media post, but expressed wariness astir the absolutist language.

“Total elimination of cartels sounds similar an intolerable task,” helium wrote, explaining that “campaigns to wholly destruct drugs … oregon coercion often autumn short.”

The US Attorney General’s bureau issues memorandum calling for the “total elimination of cartels and transnational transgression organizations.”

I hold with hitting cartels hard, but I’m wary of specified absolutist language. “Total elimination of cartels” sounds similar an intolerable task. pic.twitter.com/u5Y9rFTquZ

— Ioan Grillo (@ioangrillo) February 6, 2025

The Trump medication memo besides acceptable distant mandates and initiatives, including charging priorities, removing bureaucratic impediments to assertive prosecutions, and enhancing enforcement efforts against quality smuggling and trafficking groups by empowering existing associated task forces.

In addition, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Office of Legal Policy and the Office of Legislative Affairs were directed to advocator legislative reforms to amended counter-narcotics efforts.

On his archetypal time successful office, Trump signed an enforcement bid to designate cause cartels arsenic overseas violent organizations, portion criticizing the Mexican government’s alleged ties to cause cartels. He besides declared a nationalist exigency astatine the U.S.-Mexico border, allowing the U.S. Department of Defense to deploy equipped forces to the region.

Sheinbaum has objected to Trump’s characterization of Mexico arsenic a narco-state, and connected Friday, she said the U.S. indispensable stock responsibility.

President Sheinbaum has objected to the Trump administration’s characterization of Mexico arsenic a narco-state. (Gage Skidmore via Flickr/Cuartoscuro)

“They person a batch to bash successful the United States; however does fentanyl oregon immoderate different cause … get there? Who brings it crossed the border?,” she asked. “Who operates the organisation of the drug? Who sells the drugs successful the U.S. cities that person caused truthful overmuch tragedy?”

But U.S. authorities look much focused connected Mexico.

Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tom Homan said connected Thursday that President Trump won’t hesitate to usage the U.S. subject against Mexican cartels, if necessary.

Speaking successful the discourse of the accrued U.S. subject beingness astatine the Mexican border, the U.S. borderline czar said troops “need to support themselves,” insisting that Trump would nonstop a informing to the cartels if immoderate U.S. soldiers are harmed.

“I deliberation the cartels would beryllium foolish to instrumentality connected the military, but we cognize they’ve taken connected the Mexican subject before,” helium told ABC News Live. “But present we person the United States military.”

In an interrogation with MVS Noticias, Grillo dismissed rumors that cartels are readying to onslaught the U.S. subject and warned that the assertive stance being taken by the U.S. could effect successful a diplomatic crisis, oregon worse, a large-scale conflict.

“They could spell successful and termination 30 oregon 40 cartel operatives, but this won’t marque overmuch quality erstwhile determination are 180,000 radical moving for the cartels,” helium said.

The bigger concern, helium said, is the accidental that civilians could beryllium caught successful the crossfire.

With reports from ABC News, Anadolu Agency, El País and MVS Noticias