Tennessee joins coalition to label cartels as FTOs

Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WDEF) — A 21-state coalition is calling on President Biden to label Mexican drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti recently joined this coalition.

They are requesting the designation to be under federal law, as stated in a release from the Tennessee Attorney General.

Skrmetti said this would free resources to confront the nation’s opioid crisis.

In a letter to the president, General Skrmetti stated that drug overdoses killed more than 100,000 Americans in the past year. He said 66% of those deaths were related to opioids like fentanyl.

He explains that the opioids are coming in through cartels.

The letter said that within eight months, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized over 8,000 pounds of fentanyl. These drugs had been smuggled into the U.S.

It also quotes DEA Administrator Anne Milgram about the severity of the drug. She said, “fentanyl is the single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever faced.”

Attorney General Skrmetti also joined 17 states in calling for fentanyl to be declared a weapon of mass destruction.

Skrmetti said, “The same cartels, who produce and traffic this dangerous chemical, are also assassinating rivals and government officials, ambushing, and killing Americans at the border, and engaging in an armed insurgency against the Mexican government.”

They said if this designation happens, it will give law enforcement authority “to freeze cartel assets, deny entry to cartel members, and allow prosecutors to pursue stricter punishments against those who provide them material support.”