More than 134 acres in Texas that was being used by a drug cartel for smuggling activities has been taken over by U.S. authorities, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a Feb. 10 post on X.
“We took the land and everything on it,” the post said.
A video shared with the post showed law enforcement officers arresting several people.
“They thought they were untouchable. They were wrong. Over 134 acres of land and property, taken from the westside Gulf Cartel, a terrorist organization operating near Rio Grande City, Texas,” according to the video.
The Gulf Cartel is a drug trafficking organization from Mexico that moves arms and migrants into the United States, and has engaged in the kidnapping and murder of American citizens. Drug cartels have been known to use U.S. lands to grow marijuana, with such activities exploiting sanctuary state policies and the sovereignty of native tribal lands.
In a message to the cartels, CBP said, “You think this is just about arrests? It’s not. We are dismantling your operations from the ground up. We’re cutting out your safe houses, your staging areas, your corridors. This is your warning.”
Over the past year, authorities have seized several cartel-linked assets.
In May, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two high-ranking members of the Cartel del Noreste (CDN), a drug trafficking organization from Mexico. As a result, all assets and interests in assets of the designated individuals in the United States were blocked.
In March, the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned six people and seven entities for being involved in money laundering activity to support the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel, resulting in blocking their assets in the United States.
“Laundered drug money is the lifeblood of the Sinaloa Cartel’s narco-terrorist enterprise, only made possible through trusted financial facilitators like those we have designated today,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the time.
“Treasury, as part of a whole-of-government approach to addressing this pressing national security threat, will use all available tools to target anyone who assists the cartels in furthering their campaign of crime and violence.”
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has introduced the Cartel Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act to seize cartel assets, according to a Dec. 18 statement from the lawmaker’s office.
The bill would authorize President Donald Trump to commission private U.S. operators under letters of marque to take over cartel assets on land and sea. A letter of marque is a written authority granted to a person by the government to seize the goods of enemies. Such letters once used to be a common tool against piracy.
Under the bill, private operators would have the right to employ “all reasonably necessary means” to seize assets outside the United States.
“The Constitution provides for Letters of Marque and Reprisal as a tool against the enemies of the United States,” Lee said.
Hellbound and Down 