The State Department announced that it will designate Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, framing the move as a crackdown on drug trafficking into the U.S. and Europe. That’s a nice idea but the trafficking in question has long been documented as operating with deep complicity from U.S. intelligence networks, including the CIA. This should come as no surprise to people who are read up on the drug trade. Every corner of the drug trade has the fingerprints of the CIA. Certainly Secretary Rubio knows this which is why it is ironic that Washington is labeling as “terrorism” the very trade routes that its own apparatus exploits. This sudden shift also arrives as the Trump administration continues launching airstrikes on naval vessels under the banner of drug interdiction, despite offering no public evidence to justify these operations. Some analysts argue that “Cartel de los Soles” isn’t even a real cartel in the traditional sense. It is not a structured organization like, say, the Sinaloa Cartel. It is more of a political construct, a fantasy label that lets the U.S. government justify striking wherever it wants under the banner of counter-narcotics. The post Fantom Gangs, Real Wars appeared first on Redacted.