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Transnational Terrorist Organizations: Mexican Cartels Operating in Every U.S. State
by Antonio Graceffo113 CommentsPhoto courtesy of the FBI, from the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment
“Mexican drug cartels continue to kill Americans at a rate higher than any terrorist group
in history,” said Senator Tom Cotton in response to the fact that
illicit drugs smuggled by Mexican cartels into the US killed more than 107,000 Americans last year. The two largest cartels,
the Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), have
become multibillion-dollar Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) groups.
The Sinaloa Cartel, in particular, is operating in every US state and 47 countries around the world. Mexican cartels now operate on six continents and have completely dominated the cocaine and synthetic drug markets in Europe.
Republican lawmakers are pushing to have the cartels designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations
(FTO), but there has been significant pushback because such a
designation would complicate US relations with Mexico. Once designated,
any person or entity aiding the cartels would be in violation of US law
and subject to sanctions and arrest. The U.S. reserves the right to
arrest individuals supporting terrorism in foreign countries. The USA PATRIOT Act,
enacted after 9/11, provides broad powers to U.S. law enforcement to
combat terrorism, including the ability to target financial networks
supporting terrorist organizations. Additionally, executive orders, such
as Executive Order 13224, enable the U.S. to block the assets of individuals and entities involved in terrorism and to prohibit transactions with them.
Corruption in Mexico is significantly facilitating the drug crisis in
the US and supporting rising violence on both sides of the border.
Mexican authorities, institutions, and individuals who are found to be
on cartel payrolls would be targets for US authorities. Transparency
International ranked Mexico 126th
out of 180 countries in terms of corruption. Everyone from politicians
and judges to the army and police are accepting money from the cartels,
making them fair game for Treasury Department sanctions and possibly
arrest and extradition to the United States.
In addition to wanting to designate cartels as Foreign Terrorist
Organizations (FTO), Tom Cotton and other Republicans have introduced
legislation to task the Department of Defense with countering the
cartels. Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has vehemently opposed such action, calling it a violation of Mexican sovereignty. His response to the cartels, dubbed “Hugs not bullets,”
involves offering scholarships and social programs to the poor.
However, these measures have done nothing to reduce the killings and
disappearances.
Congressman Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), a special forces veteran, said, “Our border is being exploited by cartels,
as they run one of the most extensive human and drug trafficking
operations in the world, leaving no corner of our country untouched by
the danger of cartel activity.” The entire nation is being plagued by
these groups, but border states like Texas are being hit hardest. And
the situation is only getting worse.
“My expert opinion is that we’re going to see an increase in cartel violence
within the United States in all of its forms,” said Charles Marino, a
former advisor to the Department of Homeland Security and the CEO of
Sentinel Security Solutions. Increasing cartel activity and drug deaths
in the US underscore the need to stop the flow of drugs and transnational criminals into the country.
While the threat from cartels is growing, data shows that ICE is deporting fewer suspected gang members
than in years past. In 2021, Department of Homeland Security Secretary
Alejandro Mayorkas sent a memo to ICE urging them to focus on deporting
individuals with serious criminal histories, stating that merely being
in the country illegally should not be grounds for enforcement action
against them.
El Salvador has managed to bring its criminal gangs to heel
by suspending legal due process and arresting individuals with gang
tattoos. These criminals are incarcerated in a specially designed
super-max prison, where they will remain for the rest of their lives.
According to President Bukele, the logic is that these are repeat
offenders and career criminals incapable of rehabilitation. The only way
to keep the public safe from them is to keep them locked away.
With cartels operating in all fifty states, designating them as
Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) seems appropriate. This
designation would put immediate pressure on the Mexican government to
support US action against the cartels in Mexico. At the same time, the
border must be secured, and drug traffickers and distributors in the
United States must be jailed.
Former Texas District Attorney Official Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Illegal Aliens in Government Vehicle
by Cassandra MacDonald24 Comments
A former official from the Starr County District Attorney’s Office
pleaded guilty on Friday to smuggling illegal aliens from the border in a
government vehicle.
Bernice Annette Garza had been charged with conspiracy to transport people illegally within the United States.
Garza was arrested on December 7, 2022, during a traffic stop near Victoria. According to a report from MY RVG, four illegal aliens were found inside the District Attorney’s office vehicle at that time.
Express News reports:
In the car with Garza were Magaly Rosa and her husband,
Juan Antonio Charles, both then 40 and part of the smuggling operation,
according to court records.
The deputy also found four undocumented migrants in the car, records
show. They were visibly trembling, were wearing new clothes and appeared
to answer questions as though “rehearsed,” the complaint says.
Rosa told authorities that Garza had recruited her to smuggle
migrants in her county vehicle. She said Garza provided fraudulent court
papers that identified migrants as crime victims, the complaint says.
Rosa and her husband operated their home as a stash house for newly
arrived migrants, according to the criminal complaint. They would buy
them clothes and feed them, and then Garza would pick up the migrants
and Rosa in her county vehicle for the trip to Houston, the complaint
says.
Garza confessed that she and her coconspirators had made over 40 trips smuggling the migrants between June and December 2022.
The DA’s office fired Garza on the same day as her arrest.
Former Facebook and Nike Diversity Manager Sentenced to Prison After Stealing $5 Million Meant for DEI Initiatives
by Cassandra MacDonald290 Comments
A former Facebook and Nike “diversity manager” has been sentenced to
prison after stealing $5 million earmarked for DEI initiatives.
Barbara Furlow-Smiles, 38, of Georgia, pleaded guilty to wire fraud
in December for what the Justice Department called an “elaborate scheme
involving fraudulent vendors, fictitious paperwork, and cash kickbacks.”
On Monday, Furlow-Smiles was sentenced to five years and three months
in prison plus three years of supervised release. She has also been
ordered to pay restitution of $4,981,783.58 to Facebook and $121,054.50
to Nike, for a total of $5,102,838.08.
“Furlow-Smiles shamelessly violated her position of trust as a DEI
executive at Facebook to steal millions from the company utilizing a
scheme involving fraudulent vendors, fake invoices, and cash kickbacks,”
said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “After being terminated from
Facebook, she brazenly continued the fraud as a DEI leader at Nike,
where she stole another six-figure sum from their diversity program. Her
prison sentence reflects the consequences of her decision to
orchestrate an intricate scheme to defraud two of her employers for
personal profit.”
According to a press release
from the Justice Department, “Furlow-Smiles served as Lead Strategist,
Global Head of Employee Resource Groups and Diversity Engagement at
Facebook, Inc., now known as Meta Platforms, Inc., doing business as
Meta. From January 2017 to September 2021, she led Diversity, Equity,
and Inclusion (DEI) programs at Facebook and was responsible for
developing and executing DEI initiatives, operations, and engagement
programs. In her position, Furlow-Smiles had access to company credit
cards. She also had the authority to submit purchase requisitions and
approve invoices for authorized vendors of Facebook.”
“Furlow-Smiles used her position at Facebook to cheat and defraud the
company. She caused Facebook to pay numerous individuals for goods and
services that were never provided and then directed those individuals to
kick back the fraudulent proceeds to her, often in cash. Her scheme
operated in two ways,” the press release explained.
“First, Furlow-Smiles linked PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App accounts to
her Facebook credit cards and used those accounts to pay friends,
relatives, and other associates for goods and services that in truth
were never provided to Facebook. To conceal the bogus charges,
Furlow-Smiles submitted fraudulent expense reports, falsely claiming
that her associates or their businesses had performed work on programs
and events for Facebook, such as providing swag or marketing services,
when in fact they had not done so.”
After receiving the money from Facebook, the individuals would return the majority of it to Furlow-Smiles.
“Second, Furlow-Smiles caused Facebook to onboard several vendors
that were owned and operated by friends and associates who paid her
kickbacks. Furlow-Smiles approved fraudulent invoices for these vendors.
After Facebook paid the invoices, Furlow-Smiles directed the vendors to
return a portion of the money they received to her.”
According to the DOJ, Furlow-Smiles stole over $4.9 million from
Facebook and over $120,000 from Nike “based on fictitious charges and
fraudulent invoices. She used the money to fund a luxury lifestyle in
California, Georgia, and Oregon.”
