The directive for Drug Enforcement Administration officials to not use the term “Mexican cartel” came directly from the Biden administration to ease relations with the Mexican government, two recently retired DEA officials told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The DCNF exclusively obtained an email in August that instructed DEA officials to “now avoid saying ‘Mexican cartel'” when speaking with the media. The email was sent as drugs continued to surge across the U.S.-Mexico border.
One recently-retired DEA official told the DCNF that when the new administration came in, the Department of Justice (DOJ) required DEA to submit news interview requests for approval. The retired official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the DOJ declined many of the national news requests on top of the language guidance, but eventually eased up and allowed some to do local interviews where he used the term “Mexican drug cartel” and called each by its name.
“They didn’t want us to say Mexican cartels,” the retired official said. “I think they wanted just to say transnational criminal organizations because I don’t think they wanted to lay all the blame on Mexico, they thought it was misleading. But they didn’t give us a lot. They weren’t very transparent with certain things.”
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