America’s War on Drugs Is Built on Lies
How U.S. Policy Creates the Cartel Crisis It Claims to Fight
America’s war on drugs has always been a war on truth. And right now, we are hurtling toward a diplomatic and military catastrophe because we refuse to look in the mirror. The rhetoric coming out of Washington is filled with tough talk about “combating cartels” and “securing our border.” Politicians like Representative Greg Steube are pushing resolutions to authorize military force against Mexican drug cartels (March 24th), while Texas Governor Greg Abbott hints at deploying bounty hunters and bolsters state forces under the pretense of “protecting” the United States.
On both sides of the Mexican border, U.S. military destroyers are stationed like clenched fists. The USS Gravely prowls the Gulf of Mexico while the USS Spruance looms off the Pacific coast. It’s all part of a growing, bipartisan obsession with turning the war on drugs into an actual war, one that threatens to violate Mexican sovereignty and provoke a crisis that could make the border situation far worse.
President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico has already warned that any military intervention would be seen as a violation of international law. Mexico’s position is clear: They will not tolerate U.S. forces crossing the border or deploying drones to strike targets on Mexican soil. And yet, as recent weeks have shown, that’s precisely what the U.S. appears to be preparing to do.
We are one drift into Mexican waters, one errant drone, one misguided “bounty hunter”, away from an international incident.
But here’s the thing: None of these actions are about solving cartel violence, drug trafficking, or crime. The data proves that. The history proves that. And the U.S.’s own actions, dating back decades, prove that. This isn’t about fixing the problem. It’s about refusing to acknowledge what the real problem even is.
The Convenient Lie:
For decades, Americans have been fed a convenient lie: that the primary drivers of drug trafficking and crime are undocumented immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Politicians point to the border and scream about “invasions” and “violent criminals.” The rhetoric is crafted to make the public believe that if we crack down hard enough on immigration, the flow of drugs will slow to a trickle.
But that narrative is pure fiction. And the statistics prove it.
Between 2018 and 2023, U.S. citizens accounted for roughly 80% of convicted drug traffickers in southwest border districts. Nearly all fentanyl — the deadliest drug currently devastating American communities — is smuggled through legal ports of entry by U.S. citizens with valid identification. Studies have shown that undocumented immigrants commit crimes at far lower rates than native-born citizens. And the vast majority of drugs cross the border in commercial vehicles, cleverly hidden among legitimate goods.
Yet, politicians continue to build policy after policy around a lie. They demonize undocumented immigrants as traffickers and criminals because it’s easier to do that than confront the real problem.
The Real Cause of the Crisis:
If the U.S. were genuinely interested in dismantling drug cartels and curbing the flow of illegal narcotics, its approach would look nothing like the chaotic, heavy-handed nonsense that’s currently being proposed.
Consider the absurdity of Representative Tim Burchett’s proposal to authorize bounty hunters to hunt down cartel members. Yes, you read that right. A sitting member of Congress has seriously suggested unleashing mercenaries across the border to “solve” the cartel problem.
Below is our reporting on Burchett’s proposal:
And we’ve been here before. We wrote the damn book. The Iran-Contra affair in the 1980s wasn’t just a scandal. It was a blueprint for how the U.S. actively contributed to the creation of powerful cartels. The Guadalajara Cartel, which operated with impunity thanks to its connections with corrupt officials and indirect U.S. protection, would later splinter into the powerful groups we know today — the Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and others.
Today, the U.S. is repeating the same mistakes. The Supreme Court is currently weighing Mexico’s $10 billion lawsuit against U.S. gun manufacturers, who have flooded the country with firearms thanks to weak American gun laws. And judging by the justices’ dismissive questioning during oral arguments on March 4, 2025, the case will likely be thrown out.
See our article about the case here:
What Real Solutions Look Like:
If America truly wanted to solve the drug crisis, it would stop pretending the problem starts and ends at the Mexican border. It’s not about bombing cartel compounds or playing bounty hunter with reckless legislative proposals. The truth is, America’s own policies are fueling the very violence it claims to be fighting. And unless that’s addressed, nothing will change.
Here’s what would actually work:
Targeting Drug Demand (The Real Root of the Problem)
Cartels don’t exist because they’re good at violence. They exist because they’re good at business. And the United States provides a lucrative, reliable market worth tens of billions of dollars annually. That’s the dirty secret Washington refuses to acknowledge.
The U.S. keeps pouring money into militarized enforcement and border security while ignoring the one thing that could genuinely undercut cartel power: reducing drug demand.
Expanding addiction treatment and rehabilitation programs nationwide, not just as token pilot projects.
Investing in harm reduction strategies like supervised consumption sites, needle exchange programs, and fentanyl testing strips.
Treating addiction as a public health crisis, not a criminal one.
Moving from criminalization to treatment would shrink the market cartels depend on. But this approach requires admitting that the “War on Drugs” has been a failure — a concession Washington has never been willing to make.
You can’t clean up a mess you’re still making. And America’s appetite for illicit substances remains as insatiable as ever.
Refocusing Border Security Measures
If politicians wanted to secure the border, they’d focus on where the problem actually is: legal ports of entry, where nearly all fentanyl and other dangerous drugs are smuggled. But that’s not what makes for dramatic sound bites and campaign ads.
Real security would mean:
Enhancing inspection technology and resources at legal crossings.
Investing in intelligence-sharing programs with Mexico to target major trafficking operations rather than chasing desperate migrants through the desert.
Strengthening anti-corruption efforts, targeting not only Mexican officials but also U.S. border agents and law enforcement compromised by cartel money.
Instead, the U.S. keeps wasting resources on militarizing the border while ignoring the real flow of drugs. It’s like trying to stop a flood by building a dam in the middle of a dry field while ignoring the raging river nearby.
Ending the Flow of Guns to Mexico
Here’s where the hypocrisy becomes impossible to ignore. The same lawmakers calling Mexican cartels “terrorists” refuse to do anything about America’s role in arming those cartels.
The Supreme Court’s likely dismissal of Mexico’s lawsuit against U.S. gun manufacturers — despite evidence that nearly 70% of firearms recovered at crime scenes in Mexico originate from the United States — shows just how broken the system is.
If America were serious about dismantling cartels, it would:
Implement universal background checks for all gun sales, including private transactions and gun shows.
Create a national gun registry to track firearm sales and identify trafficking patterns.
Criminalize the act of knowingly selling or transferring weapons to traffickers, with severe penalties.
Work with Mexico to dismantle arms smuggling networks, not just ignore them while crying foul about cartel violence.
Calling cartels terrorists while refusing to regulate your own gun industry is like calling yourself a firefighter while you’re holding the flamethrower.
Repairing Diplomatic Relations
Instead of saber-rattling and unilateral military threats, the U.S. needs to work with Mexico, not against it.
Mexico has signaled over and over again that it’s willing to cooperate, to find mutually beneficial strategies to combat cartel violence. But when America’s response is to float proposals about bounty hunters and military strikes, that willingness evaporates.
Instead of pretending it can solve this crisis through sheer force, the U.S. needs to:
Negotiate collaborative strategies with Mexico instead of issuing threats and unilateral resolutions.
Invest in economic and social programs that provide alternatives to cartel recruitment for vulnerable populations.
Publicly acknowledge America’s role in creating this crisis and commit to fundamental, substantive changes.
But that requires admitting culpability — something American politicians are intensely allergic to. Because it’s easier to point fingers than to take responsibility.
Conclusion: The War on Truth
America’s war on drugs has always been a war on truth. The same country that once protected traffickers to serve its own geopolitical goals now pretends the problem is entirely Mexico’s fault. The same politicians crying about cartel violence refuse to address the reality that the U.S. created the conditions that allowed these cartels to flourish.
From the CIA’s complicity in narcotics trafficking during the Iran-Contra affair to the ongoing flood of American-made firearms pouring into Mexico, the United States has built the very problem it now claims to want to destroy.
The difference is that, back then, the violence was a convenient side effect of U.S. foreign policy. Now, it’s a convenient political tool. Proposals to use military force, send bounty hunters, or label cartels as “terrorists” aren’t about solving the problem. They’re about creating the illusion of action while refusing to confront the real issue.
The truth is, America’s drug war isn’t about fixing anything. It’s about deflecting blame and shifting focus away from the truth. It’s about demonizing the poor and the desperate rather than admitting the role of American demand, American guns, and American hypocrisy.
And until the U.S. confronts its own role in creating this nightmare, nothing will change.
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Bibliography:
“Supreme Court Likely to Block Mexico’s Suit Against U.S. Gun Makers” SCOTUSblog. March 4, 2025.
“US Citizens Were 80 Percent of Crossers with Fentanyl at Ports of Entry from 2019 to 2024” Cato Institute. August 8, 2024.
“Damming the Iron River: Solutions to Stop the Gun Industry from Fueling Mexico's Violence.” Everytown Research & Policy. January 2025.
“Mexico President Warns Against U.S. Invasion Over Cartels” CBS News. February 20, 2025.
“The Iran-Contra Affair 20 Years On” The National Security Archive. November 13, 2006.
“U.S. Deploys Navy Destroyers Near Mexican Coastlines Amid Cartel Crisis” Houston Chronicle. March 5, 2025.
“Firearms Trafficking: U.S. Efforts to Disrupt Gun Smuggling into Mexico Would Benefit from Additional Data and Analysis.” U.S. Government Accountability Office. February 2021.
“Drug Seizure Statistics.” U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Accessed March 2025.
“A State-building Approach to the Drug Trade Problem.” United Nations Chronicle. 2013.
War is not how we fix the problem. We definitely don't need to fight cartels with US Naval ships. Everything is not a nail and you don't always be a fucking hammer!!!
Yup - we have a demand problem. What to choke the supply - fix the demand. It’s too lucrative a business if there is demand.
Our opioid crisis was in large part created by Purdue Pharmaceuticals, not the cartels