WASHINGTON – In a rare moment of congressional bipartisanship, Republicans and Democrats on June 4 announced a new Cartel Task Force to best weaponize U.S. spies and intelligence analysts against Mexican fentanyl trafficking and human smuggling organizations.
The task force will be run through the House Intelligence Committee and led by Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas.
The task force will hold hearings on how to improve intelligence collection against drug cartels, and conduct site visits for on-the-ground insight into the U.S. fight against fentanyl and migrant smugglings, Crenshaw said.
The Cartel Task Force is an “actionable response” to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s 2025 Annual Threat Assessment, said committee chairman Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark.
In that assessment, the ODNI highlighted smuggling and drug cartels – and the fentanyl crisis in particular – as perhaps the top threat to U.S. security.
