Mexican drug cartels use a system of labyrinthine underground tunnels to transfer literal tons of meth, heroin, and pot into the U.S., and officials are worried that ISIS could use the tunnels to invade the U.S.:
“The stronger they get over there, the more power they have so I can definitely see, in the future, collaboration between terrorist groups and drug dealers to our south,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, South Carolina, 2016 Presidential Candidate
“It’s individuals they bring into this country, maybe at some point, suicide bombers which is really scary and then weapons of mass destruction,” said [former FBI agent Tyrone] Powers.
Terrorist experts say the epidemic of unstable leadership in Mexico, combined with ruthless drug cartels creates a vacuum.
“What’s been going on in Mexico creates an opportunity for any organization to try to take advantage of it, whether it’s ISIS or Al Shabbab,” said Brandon Behlendorf, Terrorist Targeting Strategist.
Two major drug cartels skirt the U.S. border: the Sinalos Federation, which borders Texas to California, and Los Zetas, which hugs the southern Texas border.
Thankfully, Powers says that ISIS won’t catch authorities by surprise if they do manage to us the tunnels:
“It makes logical sense for ISIS to do this,” said powers [sic]. “But I do not think they’ll be catching the intelligence agencies off guard, because this has been a persistent problem whether it was Al Qaeda or any other group.”
