The U.S. Navy Joins The War On Drugs

Broad & Liberty ran my piece on the good moves on the war on drugs, including the U.S. Navy helping to secure the southern border.

You can read the piece via the link below or the text below:

Paul Davis: The Navy joins the War on Drugs

As one walks along Broad and Snyder or Kensington and Allegheny, to name but two intersections in Philadelphia where pitiful drug addicts and despicable drug dealers cohabit, one might get the idea that the war on drugs is a losing battle.

I happen to be reading a true crime book about the “cocaine cowboy” drug traffickers in Miami during the outbreak of cocaine use and the violence and corruption that accompanied the sale of the popular drug in the 1980s. The author, like a good number of other journalists, politicians, and even some cops and feds, believes that the war on drugs is a dismal failure. 

These cynics believe that the money spent on law enforcement to combat drugs is wasted because drugs are still being imported to the U.S. in record numbers and Americans are still buying and using the drugs. These critics also note that after one drug lord is arrested, another trafficker eagerly steps up to the leadership role. So, these critics ask, what’s the point?

I don’t subscribe to this idea.

Murders, sadly, are committed. Do these critics also think that homicide divisions should be disbanded because husbands and wives continue to murder each other, as do street gang members? Law enforcement catches murderers one at a time, as they do drug traffickers, taking them off the board. They then move on to the next case. 

I believe that we should throw cold water on this cynicism about drug trafficking and drug use, as there have been some significant battles won recently in the war on drugs.  

For one, the Department of Homeland Security released a report on March 13 on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests in the first 50 days of the Trump Administration. ICE reports that they have made 32,809 enforcement arrests during this period. According to ICE, nearly 75 percent of those arrested were accused or convicted criminals. Within this group there were 1,155 criminal gang members. For many of the gang members, drug trafficking is their primary income.

“We have deported known terrorists, cartel members, and gang members from our country,” Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem stated. “We will see the number of deportations continue to rise. And illegal immigrants have the option to self-deport and come back legally in the future. And our team at ICE will help us continue moving forward to make America safe again.”

Another significant positive act is that President Trump designated drug cartels and transnational gangs as foreign terrorist organizations on January 20. This executive order will generate future actions from the American government against the drug traffickers much like we see U.S. law enforcement, the intelligence community and the military act against ISIS and other terrorist groups. 

There is good news on the border as well. CBS News, not exactly a close friend of the Trump administration, reports that the number of illegal migrants crossing the U.S. southern border in President Trump’s first full month in office plunged to a level not seen in at least 25 years. 

As a proud Navy veteran, I’m pleased to see the U.S. Navy get into the act.

On March 15, the U.S. Northern Command announced that the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG 107) departed from the Naval Weapons Station Yorktown for a scheduled deployment to assist in the war on drugs.

“USS Gravely’s deployment will contribute to the U.S. Northern Command southern border mission as part of the DOD’s coordinated effort in response to the Presidential Executive Order,” stated General Gregory Guillot, the Commander of the U.S. Northern Command. “Gravely’s sea-going capacity improves our ability to protect the United States’ territorial integrity, sovereignty, and security.

In support of U.S. Northern Command’s mission to restore territorial integrity at the U.S. southern border, the Northern Command said that the USS Gravely reinforces the nation’s commitment to border security by enhancing maritime efforts and supporting interagency collaboration. 

According to the Northern Command, the ship’s deployment highlights the Department of Defense and Navy’s dedication to national security priorities, contributing to a coordinated and robust response to combating maritime related terrorism, weapons proliferation, transnational crime, piracy, environmental destruction, and illegal seaborne immigration.

“The deployment of Gravely marks a vital enhancement to our nation’s border security framework,” said Adm. Daryl Caudle, the commander of the U.S. Naval Forces, Northern Command. “In collaboration with our interagency partners, Gravely strengthens our maritime presence and exemplifies the Navy’s commitment to national security and safeguarding our territorial integrity with professionalism and resolve.”

The Northern Command also stated that the USS Gravely brings maritime capabilities to the border in response to Presidential executive orders and a national emergency declaration and clarification of the military’s role in protecting the territorial integrity of the United States.

A U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) will be embarked aboard the USS Gravely. The LEDETs carry out a variety of maritime interdiction missions, including counter-piracy, military combat operations, alien migration interdiction, military force protection, counter terrorism, homeland security, and humanitarian response. 

Lastly, on February 28, Mexican drug cartel kingpin Rafael Caro Quintero, along another drug kingpin, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, were arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn for crimes committed as leaders of Mexican drug cartels. Caro Quintero, extradited from Mexico, was also indicted for the 1985 kidnapping, torture, and murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. 

“For decades, Rafael Caro Quintero and Vicente Carrillo Fuentes have flooded the United States and other countries with drugs, violence, and mayhem, killing so many in their quest for power and control, including in RCQ’s case the brutal torture and murder of DEA Special Agent Camarena,” stated United States Attorney John Durham. “Today the next step in the American legal proceedings against these two cartel leaders – Caro Quintero, the “Narco of Narcos,” and Carrillo Fuentes, the head of the Juarez Cartel – are finally underway, and we are one step closer to justice being served.  

“My Office continues to be steadfastly focused on the vital work of protecting people of this district, and of all of those in the United States, from the destruction that cartels wreak on our communities.”

DEA Special Agent in Charge of New York Frank Tarantino also weighed in. “Today marks a day which will be remembered in the history of the DEA. For nearly four decades, the men and women of the DEA have pursued Rafael Caro Quintero, the man responsible for the kidnapping, torture, and death of fallen DEA Special Agent Kiki Camarena, and the leader of one the most notorious and violent drug cartels. Today, Rafael Caro Quintero will finally face the consequences for the crimes he committed. No matter how long it takes, or where you hide, the DEA remains patient and committed in our global pursuit to targeting those individuals who have brought violence and destruction to our communities. The DEA will make sure justice is delivered.” 

The ICE arrest and deportation of illegal migrant criminals, the president’s designation of drug cartels as terrorist organizations, the use of the military to stem the flow of dangerous narcotics from the southern border, and the prosecution of the brutal murderer of a DEA agent are all battles won in the war on drugs. 

Paul Davis, a Philadelphia writer and frequent contributor to Broad + Liberty, also contributes to Counterterrorism magazine and writes the “On Crime” column for the Washington Times. He can be reached at pauldavisoncrime.com.