ICYMI: Montana AG: Drug cartels should be ‘designated terrorist orgs’
HELENA – Following a report on NewsNation detailing the influence of the open southern border and Mexican drug cartels on Montana’s fentanyl crisis, Attorney General Austin Knudsen joined Chris Cuomo on NewsNation Monday to discuss the issue and called on the federal government to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
“I don’t have the authority to stop every vehicle that comes into the state. That’s not a legal option that I have,” Attorney General Knudsen said. “We know where these drugs are coming from. We know where 100 percent of the fentanyl and 100 percent of the methamphetamine are coming from. They’re coming from the Mexican drug cartels. Until the federal government gets serious about enforcing the southern border and its immigration policies, we’re just going to keep seeing more and more of this.”
Watch the interview here.
Watch NewsNation’s investigative report here.
To combat crime and the drug problem in Montana, Attorney General Knudsen is advocating for increased investment in public safety at the Legislature this year to fund additional narcotics and human trafficking agents, Highway Patrol troopers, major crimes investigators, and criminal prosecutors.
During his first two years in office, Attorney General Knudsen has increased the number of Montana Department of Justice narcotics and major case agents, added a statewide drug intelligence officer who assists local law enforcement and public health agencies, and spearheaded a grant program that helped deploy two dozen drug detecting K9s around the state. One of those K9s has helped take 400 fentanyl pills off the street since the beginning of the year.
He also continues to fight the Biden administration’s disastrous border policies in federal court, engaging in multiple lawsuits to compel it to enforce existing immigration laws and secure the border. Additionally, Attorney General Knudsen called on the Biden administration earlier this year to take a tougher stance toward China and Mexico against the influx of fentanyl and to classify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.