Cartels itching to cash in on menthol tobacco smuggling

Border law enforcement and politicians are flashing new warning signs at the White House over President Joe Biden’s plan to ban menthol cigarettes.

Not only is it likely to anger minority voters who prefer their Newports to Marlboros, likely boosting black markets, but international cartels already cashing in on America’s drug fix are eager to add tobacco to their menu of products.

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“Our southern border is in crisis mode, providing illicit opportunities for transnational organizations, i.e., criminal cartels, to exploit their violent and criminal enterprises for greed,” said Sheriff Mark Dannels of Cochise County, Arizona.

Dannels, also the chairman of the National Sheriffs’ Association’s Border Security Committee, told Secrets that making “a product in the United States illegal to possess redirects the problem to criminal behavior.”

The potential of making the U.S.-Mexico border more dangerous also has many border politicians angry at Biden. Several have urged the White House to drop its plan, marketed as a play to boost health.

“As Biden’s FDA moves to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, a reminder that criminal gangs in Mexico are seeking to exploit black market opportunities,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said.

“Biden’s ridiculous ban on menthols will have wide-ranging consequences, including providing cartels with another opportunity to profit from our porous border,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

And Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) added on X, “Biden’s ridiculous ban on menthols will have wide-ranging consequences, including providing cartels with another opportunity to profit from our porous border.”

The ban has been under consideration by the Food and Drug Administration since 2021. Now that the White House Office of Management and Budget has it, the ban could be finalized over the next 30-90 days and could be published as early as Nov. 13.

The concerns about cross-border wars over tobacco are also being raised by the tribes whose ancestral lands are often targeted by the international gangs as passageways to big U.S. cities.

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The Coalition of Large Tribes, an organization representing the interests of the more than 50 tribes, for example, said turning menthol tobacco into an outlawed product will cause more problems for their law enforcement on reservations.

“Tribes are painfully aware from our experience with the fentanyl crisis that criminal interests in China, the Middle East, and Mexico already use various channels to traffic drugs through and concentrate drugs on our reservations, where the jurisdictional maze and chronic underfunding of tribal law enforcement leaves persistent gaps for public safety. The rules will strain already overburdened tribal law enforcement,” Chairman Marvin Weatherwax said in a letter to the FDA and shared with Secrets.