SC pushes for Mexican drug cartels to be declared foreign terrorist organizations

COLUMBIA, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - The attorney general for South Carolina joined 20 other states in a letter to President Biden urging Mexican drug cartels to be federally designated as foreign terrorist organizations.

Alan Wilson said drugs in South Carolina are “often coming directly from Mexican drug cartels.” In a release on Wednesday, he cited the ‘Los Banditos’ case in May 2022 where employees of a Mexican restaurant in Greenville were accused of trafficking meth, cocaine, and heroin for cartels.

Last month, Wilson also announced charges against more than three dozen suspects accused of trafficking drugs for the Jalisco New Generation cartel in the ‘Las Señoritas’ case.

He said cartels like Jalisco New Generation use raw materials imported from China to produce synthetic opioids and traffic them across the border.

“These cartels are knowingly killing people with their poison and the violence used to protect their business,” Wilson said. “It’s past time they’re officially considered a terrorist organization and treated as such.”

Attorneys General who joined the coalition said the move to designate cartels as foreign terrorist organizations would give law enforcement agencies increased authority to freeze cartel assets, deny entry to cartel members and allow stricter punishments to be pursued for suspects in the cases.

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