Robert Almonte was formerly a U.S. Marshall in the western district of Texas until 2016. He has spoken about the cartels on many occasions in the media. Almonte will speak at an event called the Mexican Cartels and Gangs International Summit, to be held in San Antonio from Nov. 6 to 10.
According to a release from Almonte's website, he was an El Paso police officer for 25 years, spending a lot of time in their narcotics department, and retired as a deputy chief in 2003. When he was narcotics commander for the El Paso Police Department, Almonte spearheaded efforts such as the Hotel/Motel Narcotics Interdiction Unit and the West Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Stash House Task Force.
According to Almonte, Mexican drug cartels are flooding the U.S. with fentanyl and other drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin.
"Fentanyl has really taken off," Almonte told Federal Newsire. "The precursors of chemicals are mostly coming from China and some from India, which both go directly to Mexico. Mexican cartels are actually making the fentanyl and bringing it across our Southwest border, with the majority being brought from the Arizona border. Arizona is really ground zero for fentanyl coming into our country in massive amounts."
Along with the rise in illegal drugs, Almonte says that the U.S. is seeing an increase in Mexican cartel-related murders due to the increase in U.S.-based Mexican cartel cell groups.
Almonte says that law enforcement agencies and officers working the Southwest border need more help to effectively address the problem.
"We need more border patrol agents, HSI agents, and DEA agents," Almonte said. "This is a big crisis, and we are not treating it as such. That’s the only way we’re going to get a handle on things. We simply need more agents on the Southwest border."
Other strategies to address the issue include the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program and the Natural Counterdrug Program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and provides free drug cartel investigation training to law enforcement officers, Almonte said. Almonte is an instructor for the program and has seen the value it offers.
While the flow of illegal fentanyl is coming primarily through the southern border, many of the precursor chemicals necessary to manufacture fentanyl and other illegal drugs actually come from China. Almonte says that icy relations between the U.S. and China could impede international collaboration and intelligence sharing between the two countries to address the challenges posed by Mexican drug cartels.
"Quite frankly, they are not cooperating or trying to do anything about fentanyl killing people in the United States," Almonte said. "In my opinion, it could be considered an attack by China on our country allowing these chemicals to come into Mexico; and consequently, fentanyl coming into the United States."
Almonte adds that while the U.S. does participate in intelligence sharing with Mexico, the U.S. needs to be cautious because of the prevalent corruption in the Mexican government. Several high-ranking Mexican government officials have been indicted and arrested for working with the cartels, according to Almonte.
Legislators have recently introduced a bill to formally designate some Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTO), a move that Almonte supports.
"At my presentations, I talk about the violence within the Mexican cartels. Whether it's beheading, killing, or torturing people, it’s definitely terrorism, Almonte said. "I interact with the Mexican people through my research. The Mexican people know what's going on and welcome our help."
While he supports the move to designate some cartels as FTOs, Almonte adds that such actions could cause a rift with the Mexican government.
What I envision is that if we do this, we go about it without assistance from the Mexican government," Almonte said. "The Mexican government can't get a handle on the Mexican cartels due to the level of corruption. I also have to wonder if maybe that's why they don't want us going after the cartels because a lot of them are embedded with the cartels."
Almonte says that the media could help raise awareness and support for law enforcement efforts against Mexican drug cartels by improving reporting on the issues at the southern border.
"I would like to see all media acknowledge and recognize the fact that the Southwest border in America isn’t secure," Almonte said. "Everyone seems to be looking for a political solution to the border issue. We need to focus on truly finding the best solutions, but I think politics often prevents that from occurring."
Almonte will speak at an event called the Mexican Cartels and Gangs International Summit, to be held in San Antonio from Nov. 6 to 10. Other speakers at the conference will include Jay Dobyns, Derek S. Maltz, Jamie Ambercrombie, Steve Duncan and Alex “Buggs” Marentes, all of whom are also involved in law enforcement.
