Trump – Changing Drug Traffickers’ Calculus

President Trump has authorized the use of force against “go-fast” boats carrying large quantities of illicit drugs – fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin – to the United States, as more than 80,000 US citizens die each year of overdoses and cartels spread violence. Democrats “rage.” They should sit down. President Trump is changing drug traffickers’ calculus.

As the former Assistant Secretary of State who helped architect and implement the successful Plan Colombia strategy in the early 2000s, worked legally with the US Coast Guard to enable shooting Colombian “go fast” engines, and pushed global drug trafficking deterrence, President Trump is exactly right. Consider the key facts.

First, those 80,000 US overdoses (ages 18 to 45) are almost entirely from foreign source drugs. Overdose deaths tripled since Obama’s first term. More young Americans die each year from foreign source drug overdoses than died in the whole Vietnam War. So, the damage is enormous.

Second, the US presently has an estimated 33,000 street gangs, many linked to eight (8) major Mexican-based drug cartels, categorized by the FBI and DEA as Transnational Criminal Organizations, as well as pervasive Chinese, Dominican, and other foreign drug trafficker penetration.

Third, these TCO groups – foreign source Organized Crime groups – are often lumped together, but are both competitive (violently competing) and cooperative (dividing up US states).

Collectively, they represent a major national security threat, pushing ODs, violence, and even national interests. They are the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel (177 members just arrested in New England), Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Northeast Cartel (CDN), La Nueva Familia Michoacana (LNFM), Gulf Cartel (CDG), United Cartels (CU), Zetas Vieja Escuela, plus the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua (TdA),  El Salvadoran Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), and Chinese Triads.

Trump’s DEA, FBI, and joint interagency task forces – across the US – have literally “thousands” of cases open against these groups. Directly and indirectly, trafficking ties to nearly 80 percent of all crime, flow-down crimes including homicide, assault, burglary, robbery, and domestic violence.

Fourth, some of these groups are tied to governments overtly and covertly hostile to the US, including Venezuela, Bolivia, and other trafficking nations of South America and Asia, most notably China, the prime source of fentanyl and chemicals used to make fentanyl.

Chinese organized crime, linked to the CCP, has thousands of illegal marijuana “grow houses” across the US. When one state closes them – such as Oklahoma – they reseed in low prosecution states – like Maine. These TCOs link to money laundering, fentanyl, banks, and real estate firms. 

Other nations, like Mexico and Colombia, have simply proved unable to control trafficker violence, as public corruption expands and law enforcement is overwhelmed. Mexico saw 400,000 murders from 2006 to 2010, and today sees 30,000 drug-related murders annually.

Without credible deterrence, major, direct state and federal support for law enforcement, strong international attention to expanding TCO threats, and international action, the threat grows.

Accordingly – and thankfully – President Trump has not downplayed this national security threat. He has linked lifting of tariffs – with Mexico, Colombia, China, Canada, and others – to reinvigorated international law enforcement against TCOs, those trafficking in all high-potency drugs.

Finally, he has taken laws written in the 1990s – operationalized in the 2000s – such as shooting out engines of “go fast” drug boats from armed helicopters, support for aggressive international engagement with traffickers, such as with “shoot down” policies, up a notch.

He has used the same laws, justifications, methods, and cooperative international intelligence, law enforcement, and military means to directly confront the supply arm of these dangerous, violent, rapidly spreading cartels before they get to US shores, destroying trafficker supply lines.

He has also been uncompromising in seeking, arresting, deporting, and prosecuting drug and human traffickers inside the US, aggressively tracking down illegal aliens in those 33,000 street gangs tied to international traffickers, or to TCOs.

Legally, while Democrats whine about how President Trump is confronting the violent TCOs and their threat to our internal security, as they have vigorously defended violent illegal aliens, he is on sound footing.

The question is not whether these violent drug traffickers and supply chains should be stopped, but how quickly deterrence can be reestablished. If the drop in border crossings is any indication, drug traffickers will change their calculus. For that, President Trump should be congratulated, not condemned. 

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is the National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor (please visit BobbyforMaine.com to learn more)!