A border security expert is warning that Mexican cartels are exploiting the cross-border horse trade to smuggle drugs and illegal aliens into the U.S.
On a recent episode of “The Matt Gaetz Show,” Ammon Blair, a border security expert at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, shared that this horse smuggling operation is now nationwide.
The Mexican drug cartels have resorted to “unsettling ways of getting illicit substances into the U.S.” following the Trump administration’s crackdown at the southern border, according to a segment from Fox 11 Los Angeles.
In the segment, Dawn Olivieri from “Yellowstone” and Tawnee Preisner of Horse Plus Humane Society said that the horse slaughter pipeline is being used as a “Trojan horse” and as a “front” for moving drugs across the border by putting them inside the horse’s body.
This is done by cutting a slit in the horse’s skin while still alive and placing the drugs underneath the hide of the skin.
The two said that this issue could also affect the beef supply chain and pose risks to food safety and human health. They allege that testing in the Los Angeles area shows that horse meat has been mixed with beef sold to families.
They said several horses rescued from the slaughter pipeline have tested positive for diphtheria that can only be transmitted by humans.
Gaetz asked Blair about how significant horse smuggling is, with Blair noting that it has become a nationwide issue and the epicenter is “right here in Texas.”
“The Mexican cartels are involved in livestock,” said Blair. “They’re involved in all forms of agriculture, and they need a way and means to move not just livestock that they own, but narcotics as well as human beings.”
Because the drugs are hidden inside the horses, Blair said that “when they move back and forth, either between the ports of entry or at the port of entry,” it makes it difficult to determine whether they are smuggling narcotics or not.
Blair argued that the issue stems from a lack of domain awareness across the southern border, saying that “we still don’t even know who, what, where, why, how, or when something is coming across our southern border.”
According to Blair, the U.S. still uses Vietnam-era sensors at the border and does not even have the ability to track drones that come into the country.
“The problem is a lot of times Border Patrol agents are looking for the narcotics or they’re looking for illegal aliens,” said Blair. “They’re not looking for horses coming across the border.”
When questioned by Gaetz about the reports of horse meat being mixed with beef, Blair commented that it is going to be difficult for California or Texas to go in and see the slaughterhouses on private property that may have “direct connections to maybe a diaspora community that doesn’t care about food safety.”
“So, what they’re seeing through the investigations from like Horse Plus Humane Society and other organizations, they’ve found that you could go to a taco truck and you could be eating horse instead of beef,” said Blair.
Dr. Lora Bledsoe, policy advisor with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has also described cattle crossing from Mexico being used for similar purposes.
