United States taxpayers have sent more than $3 billion to Mexico since 2008 to combat the drug cartels that have mercilessly flooded illicit narcotics, including fentanyl, into the country. Despite the infusion of U.S. tax dollars funneled to Mexico through the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and USAID, the cartels have become stronger rather than weaker.
A 2023 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report noted the dismal results of the Merida Initiative and the Bicentennial Framework for Security programs that were aimed at combating the Mexican Drug Cartels. The oversight agency’s report was critical of the results of the programs that have done little to keep drug overdoses from becoming the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 18 and 45.
The decades-long infusion of U.S. tax dollars into Mexico by USAID and INL also failed to produce meaningful results in their country. As reported by Breitbart Texas, a record 191,600 murders occurred during the six-year term of Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO). The murders highlight the abject failure of his “Abrazos, no balazos” or “Hugs, not bullets” policy approach to dealing with the violent drug cartels operating throughout the county.
AMLO’s strategy to combat the deadly cartels was not to engage in battle but rather to deal with the root causes of cartel violence through social programs to fight poverty. He vowed to reduce the number of non-violent drug offenders in Mexico’s prisons. The funds American taxpayers sent to Mexico to help combat the drug cartels did little to prevent violence in Mexico from reaching levels unseen in modern history.
The GAO report noted the continuing deterioration of the security situation in Mexico, which has significantly worsened over the last 15 years. In addition to the murder rate in Mexico becoming one of the highest national homicide rates in the world, the report was critical of the extremely low rates of prosecution for all crimes in Mexico, according to the 2022 State Department Human Rights Report on Mexico.
President Trump’s threat of tariffs and Elon Musk’s “DOGE” efforts to reduce the level of fraud, waste, and abuse of U.S. taxpayer dollars dispersed by USAID is provoking the latest change to U.S./Mexico bilateral counter-drug strategies. The current thirty-day pause on tariffs proposed by Trump may offer the opportunity for a shorter-term evaluation of Mexico’s latest effort to reduce fentanyl production by the powerful drug cartels.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
