MxM News

Quick Hit:

U.S. Attorney Janine Pirro revealed Wednesday the largest federal seizure of drug precursor chemicals in U.S. history, intercepting two shipments from China bound for Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel. The chemicals, capable of producing more than 420,000 pounds of methamphetamine, were seized in international waters near Panama.

Key Details:

• Pirro announced the bust during a press conference in Pasadena, Texas, joined by ICE, DEA, CBP, FBI, and Defense Department officials. The seizures included 363,000 pounds of benzyl alcohol and 334,000 pounds of N-methyl formamide, both closely monitored by the DEA due to their role in synthetic drug production.
• The Trump administration’s January designation of the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization allowed federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., to execute the seizures under terrorism forfeiture laws.
• Authorities estimated the chemicals could be used to manufacture methamphetamine worth more than $569 million in the Houston area alone, with profits increasing as the drugs reached East Coast markets.

You are looking at the largest seizure of precursor chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine in U.S. history. China was sending over 700,000 lbs on the high seas to the Sinaloa Cartel before my office seized them.

Because President Trump and Secretary Rubio declared the… pic.twitter.com/kAyijtTlTM

— Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) September 3, 2025

Diving Deeper:

In a sweeping operation that federal authorities are calling a major victory against narco-trafficking, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Janine Pirro announced Wednesday the largest seizure of drug-making chemicals in American history. The confiscation, carried out through two separate maritime interdictions in international waters near Panama, disrupted a trafficking pipeline connecting chemical suppliers in Shanghai, China, with Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel.

Pirro detailed that federal agents seized 1,300 barrels of chemicals, including 363,000 pounds of benzyl alcohol and 334,000 pounds of N-methyl formamide, both key ingredients in large-scale methamphetamine production. Officials said the chemicals could have produced more than 420,000 pounds of methamphetamine, with an estimated street value exceeding $569 million in Houston, a figure that would rise as the drugs made their way north.

“Every day, tons of chemicals used to create synthetic drugs like methamphetamine and fentanyl are shipped from China to Mexico in what amounts to an undeclared war against America,” Pirro told reporters. “Every day, funeral homes across this country see the tragic consequences of this war.”

The operation was the result of a multi-agency effort involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the FBI. The Department of Defense also supported the interdictions, reflecting the scale and complexity of the mission. Officials said it would take 24 tractor-trailers to transport the seized chemicals to a secure location.

The Trump administration’s January decision to classify the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization played a pivotal role in authorizing the seizures. By leveraging terrorism forfeiture provisions, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., secured the legal authority to seize the chemicals in international waters.

Pirro emphasized that the operation not only cuts off a critical supply chain for one of the world’s most violent cartels but also demonstrates a tougher approach to combatting transnational organized crime. “We are taking this fight directly to the source,” she said.

From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy

By Scott McGregor

The U.S. is escalating its fight against drug cartels by treating them like terrorist organizations, while Canada risks becoming a safe haven if it fails to act. Cartels already exploit Canadian banks, real estate, and trade, posing national security threats beyond drugs. In this commentary, Frontier Centre senior fellow Scott McGregor urges Canada to tighten ownership laws, strengthen enforcement, and apply terrorism financing tools—otherwise, it will become the weak link vulnerable to cartel infiltration and corruption.

The U.S. is getting serious about drug cartels. If Canada doesn’t step up, we risk becoming their next base of operations

According to a recent New York Times report, U.S. President Donald Trump has given the Pentagon the green light to target Latin American drug cartels. Not “target” in the metaphorical sense—this is the real thing. Drones. Intelligence ops. Boots, if not yet on the ground, then certainly in the briefing rooms.

This isn’t just another law-and-order flex. It’s a clear signal that cartels are no longer being treated like street thugs with fast cars and gold-plated pistols. The U.S. is starting to treat them as what they’ve become: strategic actors capable of hollowing out nations through violence, economic sabotage and political manipulation.

Canada, take note. These cartels aren’t lurking just south of the Rio Grande. They’re here—moving narcotics through our ports, washing dirty money through casinos and real estate, and slipping illicit profits into the bloodstream of our legitimate businesses. The same loopholes that let hostile states meddle in our economy—opaque ownership laws, sluggish enforcement, paper-thin oversight—are a buffet for criminal networks.

The U.S. move to label cartels as foreign terrorist organizations isn’t just semantics. It unlocks serious tools: sanctions, asset freezes, intelligence collection, and expanded interagency coordination. And yes, it will inevitably reshape how American agencies engage with Canadian police, prosecutors and financial watchdogs. Whether we’re ready or not.

Our private sector, already lumbering under the alphabet soup of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, if you’re into that sort of thing, will now face higher expectations. The law technically requires banks, real estate firms, casinos and others to flag dodgy transactions. But reality hasn’t lived up to regulation. Just ask TD Bank, which somehow let billions in suspected drug money pass through its accounts like it was business as usual.

Now, with U.S. regulators treating some cartels like terror networks, those Canadian reporting obligations take on a whole new urgency. Vague links to shady partners won’t be brushed aside—they’ll be flagged, frozen and maybe prosecuted. Transactions won’t just be scrutinized for origin—they’ll be examined for intent, connection and risk exposure.

And if you think this only applies to bags of cash under the table, think again. Trade-based laundering—fudged invoices, over- or underpriced exports, corporate shell games—is very much in the crosshairs. So is service-based laundering: professional firms, logistics handlers, consultants. If it moves, it can be used. And if it moves dirty money, it’s fair game.

For businesses with Latin American partners or operations in high-risk sectors—agriculture, commodities, shipping, construction—the rules have changed. Every client, every partner, every middleman becomes a compliance risk. Insurers and investors are already sharpening their pencils. If you thought due diligence was annoying before, just wait.

But the private sector won’t be the only one feeling the heat. Canadian law enforcement can’t afford to lag behind. If the U.S. is reaching for terrorism laws to take down cartel operations, Canada can’t keep leaning on an outdated “organized crime” framework better suited to The Sopranos reruns than transnational hybrid conflict.

Integrated enforcement units will need more than pep talks—they’ll need authority, funding and legal backing to go after not just cartel foot soldiers, but the enablers hiding in plain sight: financial fixers, trade brokers and regulatory sleepers.

It’s time to revisit whether our terrorism financing laws can apply to cartels that, let’s face it, look and act an awful lot like geopolitical insurgents. If they meet the Criminal Code’s thresholds, why aren’t they being treated accordingly?

Because this isn’t just about drugs. It’s about hybrid warfare.

Cartels are no longer just violent criminal enterprises. They’ve become destabilizing forces—sometimes aligned with hostile regimes, always exploiting weak institutions. Take Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles. It’s allegedly run by senior government officials. That’s not just a crime ring. That’s a criminal state actor.

When such networks pass through Canada, they don’t just bring drugs. They bring the risk of corruption, economic distortion and political interference. In short: they’re a national security threat.

And here’s the kicker: if Canada doesn’t match the U.S. posture, we become the soft underbelly. Cartels will exploit every gap between Washington’s crackdown and Ottawa’s inertia. Even if Canada doesn’t change a thing, the private sector won’t get a pass. U.S. regulators don’t particularly care what Parliament does—they care about risk exposure. And they will act accordingly.

The U.S. designation confirms what many in intelligence and enforcement have long known: the cartels use the same toolkit as hostile states: illicit finance, economic disruption and market infiltration. That makes them more than a policing challenge. They are a test of national resilience.

Canada’s response needs to be sharp, strategic and immediate. That means tightening ownership laws, expanding the operational muscle of FINTRAC—the federal agency that tracks suspicious financial transactions and combats money laundering—and properly resourcing joint enforcement teams. Above all, we must stop treating compliance as a box-checking exercise and start treating it as the security tool it was meant to be.

Washington’s message couldn’t be clearer. If Canada stays on cruise control, the cartels will set up shop here—and we’ll be the ones footing the bill in corrupted institutions, compromised markets and communities left to deal with the fallout.

Hybrid threats don’t wait for committee reports. They move fast, adapt quickly and embed deeply. So should we.

Scott McGregor is an intelligence consultant and co-author of The Mosaic Effect. He is a senior fellow at the Council on Countering Hybrid Warfare and writes here for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.