I am SO-NOT-A-LAWYER (IASNAL??) but don't the RICO statutes already do that? Granted, RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) probably only matters to crimes that occur in the US but the Mexican drug wars have spilled over the border in a huge way. I've read that the south side of Phoenix has been bought by the Cartel bigs so as far as I'm concerned, that makes them fair game for RICO. I don't see them as "terrorists" but as plain old fashioned organized crime with military hardware.RPB wrote:U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul , an Austin Republican, introduced a bill that would designate Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations.
That would make it easier to freeze assets and deport gang members, and target anyone who gives material support to traffickers. (Like the ATF does?)
Also, it reminds me of the line from the Untouchables movie where Sean Connery's character says "Everyone knows where the booze is. The question is, 'Who has the guts to cross Capone?'". I find it hard to believe that the authorities don't know where the leaders and the money is in this drug war. The problem to me seems that no entity has the guts to actually go after them in the way it needs to be handled.
REGARDLESS, something first needs to be done about the biggest criminal of all in this, and that is the casual user. It's not the hardcore addicts that fuel this mess. There really aren't enough of them to go around. If I may be blunt, when a person gets hooked, within a couple years, they either get clean or they die. End of customer. But the casual "weekend warrior" users should be dealt with as harshly as any dealer. If the market didn't exist, the criminal enterprise would go away. As long as the market and the money is there, no amount of going to war with the cartels is going to matter one little bit.
If it took 40 years to so demonize smoking to the point where it's now against the law to even smoke in some cities, casual drug use can also be demonized to the same point. It just needs to be done.
Hope I didn't hijack......
But hey! Whatta I know? I'm just some dude......
