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MS-13 gang members are crammed into a ‘gang cage’ Quezaltepeque police station in El SalvadorCredit: Getty – Contributor
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Mexican Soldiers leave the scene of a crime where a man was killed by gang gunfire in downtown TijuanaCredit: AFP
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Gang members are shepherded together in prison by armed police in El SalvadorCredit: Getty
It could give his government more powers to go after the criminal organisations with military strikes or to forcefully remove their members from the US.
Security expert Professor Anthony Glees told The Sun that Trump may launch airstrikes in Mexico to “wage a war” against the lethal cartels that pose a threat to his “Fortress America”.
Glees said America’s enemies “will tremble at what he is able to do”, in Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia or El Salvador, where the most prominent gangs conduct far-reaching drug operations.
Dubbing Trump “the most powerful man in the world right now”, Glees said he could send in strikes, US Marines or Navy seals to crush the dangerous groups.
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And he thinks the US Army – earmarked a whopping $849billion budget via the DOD in 2025 – could shoot down gang criminals working across America “on sight”.
The new executive order will likely cover notorious criminal gangs like the El Savadorian Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) – known for their motto “kill, rob, rape, control”.
It would also probably encompass infamous Mexican gangs like the Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation, Juarez or Gulf Cartels.
Colombia is home to the well-known MedellÃn, Cali, Norte del Valle, and North Coast Cartels who would surely make Trump’s list of targets.
The largest cartels are based in Mexico and Colombia and according to a US Congress report – pose the “greatest organized crime threat” to America.
El Savadore has also been rocked by gang violence for years – with thousands of gang members, on the streets and in overcrowded prisons, who organise and run extortion rackets, deal drugs and kidnap for ransom.
But any attack by the US army on such groups in these countries would require the cooperation of Trump’s administration and government with any relevant South American authorities.
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A local leader of the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13) shows a hand sign that represents his gangCredit: Getty – Contributor
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Inmates belonging to the MS-13 and 18 gangs in prison in Tecoluca, El SalvadorCredit: AFP
Glees said the MAGA leader’s “very hard line” on treating cartels as terrorists has “merit” and is “justified” in keeping America safe.
“What [Trump] is saying to these people is that you can be shot on sight. If we see you and decide to kill you, we will kill you. And I think that is justified,” Glees explained.
“We’ve all seen Breaking Bad. We’ve all seen how these people work, and many of us know there are very sophisticated pathways and routes that the drug dealers take to get across the length and breadth of the United States of America.
These people are killers. They’re slow killers when it comes to drugs and they’re quick killers when it comes to people who try to stop them selling their drugs or grass on them
Professor Anthony Glees
“But there’s not the wherewithal to stop them. So using fighters, using shooters, to stomp them out could work.
“It could be anywhere in America because the drugs go all over the United States. These sort of semi-secret routes… There could be shooting all over the place.”
Speaking of the lethal cartel networks, Glees warned:Â “We should be under no illusions whatsoever, these people are killers.Â
“They’re slow killers when it comes to drugs and they’re quick killers when it comes to people who try to stop them selling their drugs or grass on them.”
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A truck burns on a street in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, during gang conflictCredit: AP
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Mexican Navy soldiers handle Joaquin Guzman Loera – also known as ‘El Chapo Guzman’, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, in 2014Credit: Getty
He said Americans would be “sympathetic” to Trump’s tough take – applying this as well to Trump’s stance on immigration – where he has already promised mass deportations.
“For those people who are unlawfully in the United States of America, they must expect to be sent back to where they came from, because the rule of law must be upheld, and the rule of law also applies to Mexican drug cartels,” Glees added.
“Trump wants to establish a Fortress America… and has said it will consist of a powerful military, with orders to kill America’s enemies, whilst at the same time erecting an Iron Dome around the United States to prevent it from missile attacks.
“Fortress America is to be a place where American power is used to keep America safe from outside, and these drug cartels are seen as coming from outside and predominantly from Mexico.”
Fortress America is to be a place where American power is used to keep America safe from outside, and these drug cartels are seen as coming from outside and predominantly from Mexico
Professor Anthony Glees
The security pro even warned that Trump could wage a full-blown war inside Mexico in order to squash the cartel threat.
“There’s no doubt in my mind if Trump were to feel the only way that the drug cartels could be taken out of American lands would be to attack Mexico and attack them in Mexico, then I think he would do that, and in effect he would be waging a war in Mexico.Â
“Now it wouldn’t be against the Mexican Government. But it would be an American attack on Mexican territory to destroy the highly dangerous people.Â
“Using the military could mean an attack on Mexico, and in theory it could mean attacks on sources of drugs coming from other places that you know, like El Salvador or Venezuela.”
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A US Interceptor missile is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as part of a weapons testCredit: AP:Associated Press
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Gang members of the ‘Mara Salvatrucha’ and ‘Barrio 18’ are seen in a cell at a Terrorism Confinement Center in El SavadorCredit: Getty
Trump’s move pushes forward his agenda for a militarised agenda along the Mexico-US border.
He declared an official emergency along the boundary on Monday night, effectively dispatching the US Army to handle issues of migration across the border.
The MAGA leader also promised to carry out mass deportations and threatened explicit military intervention to deal with cartels inside Mexico.
His executive order says the cartels “threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere”.
“The Cartels have engaged in a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere that has not only destabilized countries with significant importance for our national interests but also flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs,” it added.
While it didn’t name specific gangs by name, the directive said Cabinet secretaries would recommend groups for designation as terrorist organisations over the next two weeks.
Trump, 78, overturned a hoard of policies brought in by the Biden administration on Monday evening.
He signed his first round of executive orders at a victory rally in the Capital One Arena, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Treaty and requiring federal workers to return to the office full-time.
He also pardoned all of the January 6 rioters and pulled the US out of the World Health Organisation.
The newly sworn in President ended his marathon inauguration day dancing on stage at an inauguration ball with wife Melania.
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Police found children living in drug-filled squalid conditions run by gangs in Bogota, Colombia in 2016Credit: Getty
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Members of the Colombian Navy patrol a street at the Nuevo Amanecer neighbourhood after a surge of cartel activityCredit: AFP
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Trump being sworn in as 47th President of the United States on Monday
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Publish date : 2025-01-21 01:30:00
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