In my first career, I stood in courtrooms as a defense attorney dealing intimately with the fallout of organized crime and gang violence.I have cross-examined operatives, analyzed thousands of pages of gang intelligence and witnessed firsthand the brutal efficiency of transnational syndicates.
If my time immersed in the legal trenches of the gang world taught me one undeniable truth, it is this: cartels do not respect international borders.In fact, they weaponize them.
For too long, the jurisdictional lines on a map have served as the greatest defense strategy for the world's most violent criminal organizations.We have treated multinational, multibillion-dollar criminal enterprises as localized law enforcement problems.Fortunately, the landscape of international justice is shifting.
The U.S.-led "Shield of the Americas" initiative, which recently designated eight major criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations, is fundamentally rewriting the playbook on how we dismantle these syndicates.There remains one critical holdout, Brazil, whose president is not expected to join this critical coalition.Indeed, the reelection of incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva all but ensures an increase in organized criminal activity in Brazil.ICE ARRESTS MORE THAN 100 ALLEGED GANG MEMBERS IN SINGLE WEEK, INCLUDING VIOLENT MS-13, TDA SUSPECTS: DHSTo understand the necessity of this initiative, one must understand how modern cartels operate.
In the courtroom, you quickly realize that the street-level gang members, like the MS-13 triggermen or the Tren de Aragua enforcers, can be the lowest rung on a massive, sophisticated corporate ladder.Aurora Police investigate an alleged home invasion which is possibly connected to the migrant gang, Tren de Aragua in Aurora, Colo.on Tuesday, Dec.
17, 2024.(Fox News Digital)These organizations operate with the logistical precision of Fortune 500 companies.
They manage complex supply chains, launder money through intricate globa...