Drug Czar Sara Carter Credits Tunnel Discovery to Cartel Pressure, But Fentanyl Fight Is Far From Over

The Tunnel

Federal investigators found it: a 2,000-foot underground passage running from Tijuana to a warehouse near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in California, descending 55 feet below the surface with reinforced walls, rail systems, ventilation, and electrical wiring. The ceiling is no higher than 4½ feet.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California announced on June 1 that the tunnel had been discovered during a Homeland Security investigation involving a suspected drug smuggling operation. Four people were charged with conspiring to distribute more than a ton of cocaine worth $45 million. Authorities tied the tunnel to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

Carter's Claim

Sara Carter, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, was sworn in this past January. Her office coordinates anti-narcotics policy across 19 federal agencies.

In a recent interview on EpochTV's "American Thought Leaders" with host Jan Jekielek, Carter said the tunnel's existence actually signals progress. "They're having a much harder time getting their product across the border because we've shut it down," she told Jekielek, according to The Epoch Times.

The logic: cartels resort to expensive, labor-intensive underground infrastructure when above-ground entry points get choked off. Carter said federal agencies are deploying technology to combat the tunnels, though she declined to specify what.

"Hundreds of millions of dollars of narcotics have probably made their way through this tunnel. Imagine the national security implications of that," she said.

She attributed the pressure to the Trump administration's "whole-of-government approach" to cutting off illicit drug supply at and beyond the border.

The Strongest Counter-Argument

Critics who follow drug policy closely raise a legitimate concern: tunnel interdictions, however dramatic, represent a fraction of total drug flow. A high-profile bust can make for a strong press conference without moving the overdose numbers.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel remains one of the most powerful and violent criminal organizations in the Western Hemisphere. One tunnel seizure does not dissolve it.

China's Role

Carter also flagged China in her interview, a thread that crosses ideological lines. She acknowledged the Chinese Communist Party's involvement in providing precursor chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl, which are then distributed by the cartels. "It is unrestricted warfare," she said.

Carter said she has already spoken with Chinese counterparts directly, making clear that the U.S. knows where the precursor chemicals are coming from and that it "will not be tolerated." She said China has been put on notice to disclose such chemicals in shipments coming into the United States.

She has also been talking to Mexican officials about safeguarding their own ports against the importation of illicit drugs, and said the federal government will hold cargo ships accountable if they are caught carrying precursor chemicals.

This is not a partisan issue in substance. Successive administrations, both Democratic and Republican, have struggled to get Beijing to enforce its own stated controls on fentanyl precursor exports.

An AP News link included in this article's source material returned a page-unavailable error, meaning AP's specific current reporting on fentanyl trafficking efforts could not be reviewed or cited.

What Comes Next

The four defendants charged in the Otay Mesa tunnel case are moving through the federal court system in the Southern District of California. Whether the administration's "whole-of-government approach" proves to be a durable policy or a talking point will depend on results that go beyond individual tunnel discoveries.