On Monday, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard released a brief statement with some specifics on how, after President Trump designated several cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, her department has assisted in the location and arrest of several individuals.
🕘🇺🇸SOTU COUNTDOWN: This is what America FIRST leadership looks like.@POTUS designated violent cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, enabling our National Counterterrorism Center to deploy two decades of counterterrorism expertise against narco-terrorists.
— Office of the DNI (@ODNIgov) February 23, 2026
We are… pic.twitter.com/e6N5grfJ6o
The DNI said:
President Trump has already taken historic action, immediately, to secure our borders in record time and designated several cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. A move that had empowered our national counter-terrorism here at ODNI (Office of the Director of National Intelligence) to deploy over two decades of counter-terrorism expertise towards detecting and deterring cartels and gangs like never before. In just one year, this designation by President Trump prevented more than 10,000 individuals with direct ties to narco-terrorism from accessing our country. We work very closely with our partners at the federal, state, and local levels.
We've assisted them in the apprehension of several cartel terrorists, including a Sinaloa cartel boss known as El Pato, who allegedly led a vast network of drug trafficking, extortion, kidnapping and murder. Another example is a CJNJ-affiliated baby trafficker, called La Diabla, who preyed on vulnerable pregnant women in Mexico, lured them to remote areas, cut out their babies, harvested their organs, and sold these newborn babies. These are just a few examples of the progress that's been made towards ending the gang and cartel violence that's plagued the American people and put our lives at risk for far too long.
Two specifics, then; this is what we call "a good start."
Read More: That Tulsi Gabbard 'Whistleblower' Story Just Completely Fell Apart
We reported earlier today that the United States supplied intelligence to Mexico that aided in that country's operation that resulted in the un-aliving of Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, who was the leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel. It's unclear as to exactly what information the USA provided to Mexico or which aspect of the American intelligence community provided it, but the cartels are a danger to the United States as well as Mexico, and in this case, we got a lot of bang for our intel buck.
Remember how things were from 2021 to 2025? There was no such gathering and dissemination of information to those who could make the best use of it. The borders were wide open. That's all changed now, and we can't afford to let it change back. What's more, the United States has intelligence-gathering assets and equipment that stagger much of the rest of the world. With the president's designation, we can not only find, interdict, and detonate speedboats carrying drugs, but also supply other countries with valuable intel that allows them to take out people like El Mencho. That's worth doing, and that's for sure and for certain.
Another thing: DNI Gabbard named a couple of names, and that's good; it lets us know that their efforts are working. But what she doesn't mention is how many more goblins her people are tracking, and what resources we may be able to focus on them. That's good; keeping secrets is part of her job description, and if her doing this job means fewer El Patos and La Diablas in the world, then that's worth the effort.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump, illegal immigration into our great country has virtually stopped. Despite the radical left's lies, new legislation wasn't needed to secure our border, just a new president.
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