Opinion: Don’t blur the lines by labeling Mexican drug cartels as “terrorist organizations.”

In a scene from the 2018 film Sicario: Day of the Soldado, a US president decides to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist groups, as it will give US national security new tools to contain the escalating violence.

The designation of violent Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations is an enticing prospect for a number of reasons. The recent kidnapping and murder of two US citizens by the Gulf Cartel has brought the issue back to the fore, including for policymakers and members of Congress.

As in the movie, there are senior US officials who believe that designating the cartels as terrorist groups will solve the dual national security crisis of illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Most notable is the former American Atty. General William P. Barr.

But while labeling the cartels as terrorist organizations has obvious emotional appeal, such a move backfires rather than deterring illegal immigration and drug trafficking, which are fueled by instability south of the US-Mexico border.

Designating terrorist organizations is one of the most powerful tools the United States uses to combat such groups. It provides the United States with the legal tools necessary to deny individuals within the group the ability to immigrate to the United States, blocks the groups’ access to the financial system, and allows those who provide material assistance to face prosecution . Some of these measures, such as denying drug cartels access to the financial system, are already in place and used against Mexico’s main drug trafficking groups.

We believe identification as a terrorist will be an important source of pressure – widening the circle of individuals the US government can prosecute for providing material support to a particular drug cartel. But the bottom line is that this would be offset by a host of negatives.

First, drug-related violence committed by cartels is still motivated by underlying criminal motives. Unlike private military companies like the Russian-backed Wagner Group, which we both labeled as a terrorist organization, the Mexican cartels are criminally motivated. They make money and spend it only to increase their criminal profits. Simply put, it’s about profit, not politics. In contrast, organizations like Wagner are trying to change the political status quo in Ukraine. The same dynamic is not at play in Mexico.

Subsequently, designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations will dilute the list linking crime and terrorism. This inevitably leads to a slippery slope, especially given the number of drug trafficking organizations that would qualify under similar criteria. Adding more terrorist groups to the list could exceed the ability of U.S. intelligence agencies to collect information on the top foreign terrorist threats, Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. Adding the cartels would mean reallocating resources to these threats.

Another reason not to mention Mexican drug cartels is the need not to militarize the border. This could significantly weaken trade flow and economic activity, hurting both the US and Mexico. This is one of the reasons why Mexico has expressed concern about such a designation in the past. When the Trump administration announced in 2019 that it was considering similar measures, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was staunch in his opposition. Either way, terrorist designation would increase tensions between the US and Mexico and, given the ongoing border crisis, potentially restore ties with a key country at a crucial time.

After all, Mexican drug cartels are already deeply entrenched in the United States. Americans act on behalf of different cartels in different ways, from retail drug distribution to more complex logistics operations. If the US takes the step to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist groups, the potential militarization associated with such designation could have significant ramifications and secondary implications for how Americans could be prosecuted. Are drug dealers and gang members in Chicago really the equivalent of die-hard Islamic State supporters planning an attack on American citizens? We don’t think so, although the scourge of fentanyl and other deadly drugs remains a serious challenge that deserves more resources and political attention. It is different with terrorism.

By the end of Sicario: Day of the Soldado, the U.S. labeling of drug cartels as terrorist groups failed. Fighting Mexican drug cartels is too important for the US government to plagiarize a Hollywood script. Instead, policymakers should focus on the most effective ways to counter the drug cartels’ ability to make profits, particularly by paying more attention to curbing drug demand and supply in the United States .

America’s insatiable need for drugs is the problem. Let’s develop better domestic policies for addiction treatment and give our medical, nonprofit and educational communities the tools they need to quell America’s crippling drug crisis without making the world’s Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmáns against the confusion of Osama bin Ladens

Jason M. Blazakis, Professor of Practice at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, served as Director of the Office of Counterterrorism and Designations of the State Department in the Office of Counterterrorism from 2008 to 2018. Colin P. Clarke is director of research at the Soufan Group and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center.