'All options need to be on the table': former DHS chief demands Biden action against cartels

Former acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on Thursday joined a growing number of figures on the political right calling on the Biden administration to pursue rigorous action against drug cartels operating in Mexico.

"I think all options need to be on the table," said Wolf on the "Just the News, No Noise" television show, "whether we designate them a foreign terrorist organization or we authorize a military use of force."

Numerous Republicans have called for labelling the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), a move the Biden White House remains hesitant to make. Wolf, for his part, was less concerned with the symbolic designation and more with its practical implications.

"Frankly, I'm more interested in what a designation would get us," he said. "What is it that we need to do? What is the action that we would need to have with the cartels? And does the designation get it? Or do we need something else?"

"I think we need to be looking at what can we do from a cyber perspective on these cartels, financial institutions, what can the Treasury Department do and freezing assets? ... I think all options need be on the table," he added.

"They are public enemy number one."

"We need to get serious about this," he continued.

Several Republican lawmakers, such as Sens. Lindsey Graham, S.C., and John Kennedy, La., have suggested using military force against the cartels, contending that the Mexican government was effectively impotent when dealing with the organizations.

"It's time now to get serious and use all of the tools in the toolbox. Not just in the prosecution lane, not just in the law enforcement lane, but in the military lane as well," Graham said this week. 

The push for tough action follows a recent kidnapping incident in which cartel-linked individuals conducted a lethal kidnapping of Americans in Matamoros, Mexico, that resulted in the deaths of two of the travelers. The remaining two have been repatriated and are recovering.

The Gulf cartel issued an apology this week and said it would hand over its members who had perpetrated the kidnapping.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.