Excerpt
During his address to a joint session of Congress, President Trump made a powerful declaration: “Two weeks ago, I officially designated [Tren de Aragua] — along with MS-13 and the ruthless Mexican drug cartels — as foreign terrorist organizations. They are now in the same category as ISIS, and that’s bad news for them.” These actions have set the stage for financial warfare against the international drug cartels.
His first major action last month, an executive order designating international drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, was followed last week by the identification of the first six cartels to be designated, four of which are based in Mexico. Trump also issued a National Security Presidential Memorandum to intensify sanctions against Iran — highlight a growing reliance on economic measures to target adversaries.
The goal is clear: Use unrestricted financial warfare to disrupt criminal and terrorist networks, whether they be cartels, rogue regimes or state sponsors of terror. But while these policies signal strong intent, one question remains: Can the U.S. government enforce them effectively? A solution exists that could massively amplify government efforts by encouraging private parties to bring civil lawsuits against sanctions violators, borrowing a strategy called “qui tam” that has been very successful in other areas of law.
Matt Zweig is senior policy director at Foundation for Defense of Democracies Action. He previously served in roles on Capitol Hill and at the U.S. State Department. Elaine Dezenski is senior director and head of the Center on Economic and Financial Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.