(NewsNation) — Terrance Cole, who is President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, met with the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this week.
During the meeting, Cole made allegations about the Mexican government, claiming that when it comes to Mexico’s law enforcement agencies, the cartels are the ones who are in control of everything.
The DEA has said before the cartels were in all 50 U.S. states but is now also saying that the criminal organizations essentially control Mexico. Cole said he believes the cartels govern a majority of Mexico.
“We’ve seen, traditionally, the military working hand in hand, we’ve seen police officers working hand in hand with cartel members,” Cole said. “I saw the cartels’ coercion of government institutions, intimidation of law enforcement and their brutal enforcement of control over entire communities.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum regularly refutes the claims, pointing the finger back to the U.S. and the flow of fentanyl, saying, “Start with your own country first.” Sheinbaum has taken a stance on cracking down on cartels and discovering who distributes the drugs and where the money from it goes.
Many have said that when cash or guns start moving south, it means that there was a successful transaction of something that the cartels moved into the U.S.
Border officials say that there’s trust between them and Mexico’s government, but when NewsNation border correspondent Ali Bradley spoke to some other sources, they say Mexico is a part of the problem and doesn’t do enough on the southern border.