Florida Governor and Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election Ron DeSantis suggested targeting Mexican cartels with drones on the border to defend the country, regardless of whether or not the U.S. receives assistance from Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO).
During an event in Iowa, an attendee asked him if he would use drones to fight criminals. "We will lean in against the drug cartels. We will absolutely reserve the right, if they’re invading our country and killing our people, we have the right to defend this country," DeSantis responded.
"We have the right to hold them accountable, and it’s not just if they happen to come over our border. If Mexico is not going to help us with that, well then we’re going to have to do what we have to do," the Republican primary candidate added.
He further stated that they should be considered "a foreign terrorist organization" that "kills tens of thousands of Americans" every year. According to State Department records, 74 Americans were killed on Mexican soil in 2021, and at least 25 were killed in the first half of 2022.
The greatest danger at the border
The cartels are the biggest threat to migrants trying to cross from Mexico into the United States. They are responsible for many crimes committed in the vicinity of the border, such as drug trafficking, which is mainly responsible for the entry of fentanyl into the country, and the kidnapping and trafficking of persons and minors.
They are also a threat due to conflicts between different criminal organizations, which fight among themselves to dominate the areas immediately adjacent to the border.
