Florida proposal urges U.S. to classify drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A proposed memorial in the Florida Senate urges the U.S. Department of State to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
A memorial is a way for the legislature to formally express their views to the federal government.
Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, filed the memorial, which he said urges the department to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations perpetrating “heinous activities that threaten the security of Americans.”
“Today, we are urging the Federal Government to designate drug cartels for what they are: terrorist organizations that wreak havoc on families, business and communities in the United States,” Ingoglia said.
The memorial urges the U.S. secretary of state to name drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations so the U.S. can initiate mitigation and eventually, eliminate drug cartel operations.
The memorial said that drug cartels meet the criteria to be designated as foreign terrorist organizations under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
“Drug cartels meet the criteria to be designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, given they are foreign in nature, engage in or retain the capability and intent to engage in terrorism, and threaten the security, foreign relations, and the economic interests of the United States,” the memorial reads.
The memorial pointed to drug cartel activities that threaten Americans including human smuggling, human trafficking, weapons trafficking, money laundering, drug smuggling, extortion, and kidnapping, which it said, have “breached the borders of the United States.”
“It is time to get serious about stopping the plague that is human and drug trafficking,” Ingoglia said. “In addition to fixing the perennially broken legal immigration system and stopping the influx of illegal immigrants, this is a great first step to protecting Americans.”
The memorial also included some examples of the “heinous activities” of the drug cartels.
It pointed to March 2023, when a drug cartel member was responsible for the armed abduction and killing of American citizens who were traveling in Mexico, just south of the Texas border.
The memorial included that drug cartels have been “responsible” for the export and distribution to the U.S. of wholesale amounts of fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and other illicit substances, which have been the cause of tens of thousands of drug-related overdoses and deaths in the country, the memorial said.
It further pointed out that during the federal fiscal year of 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 27,000 pounds of fentanyl and millions of fentanyl pills, which is enough to kill every American several times over.
The memorial noted that that amount of fentanyl only represents a mere 10-15% of the fentanyl actually being sent across the border every year.
The memorial also urged the secretary of state to send a copy of the memorial to President Joe Biden, the President of the U.S. Senate, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Secretary of State, and each member of the Florida delegation to the U.S. Congress.
