Letters of Marque would allow private organizations to operate in the “dead space” in between government bureaucracies where the Mexican drug cartels operate, Erik Prince, an American veteran and the founder of Unplugged Technologies explained during an interview with Breitbart News Saturday.
Prince spoke with Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle about a recent post from Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), discussing what Letters of Marque and Reprisal were and how they could be used to weaken the drug cartels. Prince admitted that he had “helped put this idea in Senator Lee’s head.”
“Letters of marque and reprisal are government-issued commissions that authorize private citizens (privateers) to perform acts that would otherwise be considered piracy, like attacking enemy ships during wartime Privateers are rewarded with a cut of the loot they ‘bring home,'” Lee explained in his post.
When asked by Boyle “what the process would be for a Letter of Marque to be issued” and if it would come from the White House or Congress, Prince explained that the “last Letter of Marque” had been issued after Pearl Harbor “to a blimp operator who was authorized to hunt Japanese submarines.”
“I believe the last Letter of Marque was actually issued after Pearl Harbor in 1942, and it was actually issued to a blimp operator who was authorized to hunt Japanese submarines off the coast of California. And, I don’t know if that was a simple vote of Congress, or if that was a committee procedure, or what. But, that model — you could actually do something similar with a presidential finding today, giving an entity — a private organization a hunting license. And, then of course, when they were issued to ships, you’d have to post a bond — a performance bond of certain rules you’re going to follow, effectively rules of engagement for them to proceed,” Prince explained.
“So, that could be done in certain areas of Mexico, certain areas of Latin America, to soak up the spoils of the illegal trade and of course the cartels’ ability to operate and to terrorize local civilian populations,” Prince said.
🧵 1/ What Are Letters Of Marque And Reprisal And How Could They Be Used To Weaken Drug Cartels? 🚨 pic.twitter.com/0EeQigzVYm
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) January 27, 2025
When asked by Boyle if Prince thought this “would help solve the problem of the Mexican drug cartels” and help the United States “do certain things that maybe we aren’t doing” in order to stop the flow of drugs and human trafficking across the border, Prince explained that “one of the system problems” the U.S. has with its security apparatus “is all kinds of stove pipes.”
“One of the systemic problems we have — call it a structural problem of the U.S. security apparatus is all kinds of stove pipes. Because now you have China organizing fentanyl. So, you have a paycom area interest, pushing chemicals into Mexico, where they’re now fabricated into fentanyl and then pushed north. So, is it a northern command issue? Is it a DEA issue? Is it a border patrol issue? Is it a paycom issue?” Prince said.
“The problem is, you have so many different bureaucracies involved that no one is able to swim in between those bureaucracies in that dead space — the cartels do, but no government entity can move that quickly. So, the cartels basically operate inside of the OODA Loop of the U.S. government. And, really, only a private organization is going to be able to move that decisively with the flexibility required.”
“The cartels make enormous amounts of money that let’s them buy very good technology, very high end talent, very high end weaponry. They out gun Mexican law enforcement. I feel terrible for a state or local cop, or a federal cop in Mexico, because within days of coming on to a certain drug team, their family members are getting visited,” Prince continued.
