Trump Hails Record Cartel Arrests as Homeland Security Task Force Results Unveiled

Name: Trump Hails Record Cartel Arrests as Homeland Security Task Force Results Unveiled
Uploaded: 2025-10-24T04:47:14.000Z
Description: Within just a few weeks, the task force has arrested more than 3,000 cartel leaders, operatives, and gang members—the largest such sweep in US history, Trump said.

Within just a few weeks, the task force has arrested more than 3,000 cartel leaders, operatives, and gang members—the largest such sweep in US history, Trump said.

Rachel Acenas

Published: 10/23/2025, 11:39:26 PM EDT

President Donald Trump hosted a roundtable at the White House on Thursday to tout the success of his Homeland Security Task Force in fighting drug cartels.

The president established the task force on his first day in office to thwart threats from criminal cartels operating in the United States.

"In a matter of weeks, the task force has made the largest number of arrests of cartel leaders, operatives, and gang members in American history, more than 3,000 and counting,” Trump said.

According to Attorney General Pam Bondi, the arrests resulted in the seizure of 91 tons of drugs, enough to fill four 18-wheelers. She said that 2,300 kilos of fentanyl powder and 2.1 million fentanyl pills, along with more than 1,000 illegal guns, had been seized.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the amount of fentanyl coming into the country through the borders has been cut in half.

FBI Director Kash Patel stressed that the results of the task force's efforts mean that thousands of American lives are being saved by keeping the drugs from hitting the streets.

"Those aren't numbers, those are lives... enough fentanyl to kill over 200 million Americans gone—evaporated—off our streets permanently," Patel said.

Terrorist Designation

Among those arrested by the task force are members of transnational criminal gangs, including Tren de Aragua (TdA), Sinaloa Cartel, and MS-13. In February, Trump designated the drug cartels as "foreign terrorist organizations," a label that allows the government to impose legal and financial sanctions, ultimately disrupting their activities and preventing them from further operating in the United States.

Thursday's roundtable comes as the administration ramps up its crackdown on crime across the United States and thwarts drug cartels in the Caribbean.

As part of those efforts, the United States has carried out nine military strikes against drug-smuggling boats operating in international waters since Sept. 2, killing suspected narco-terrorists. Seven of the strikes took place in the Caribbean Sea and two in the Pacific.

Trump was pressed on whether he would request Congress to declare war against the cartels.

"I don't think we're going to ask for a declaration of war,” the president said. “I think we're just gonna kill people that are bringing drugs into our country, OK? We're going to kill them. You know? They're going to be, like, dead."

Congress has expressed concerns over Trump’s authorizations of the strikes. Some lawmakers have demanded transparency and questioned the lack of evidence to justify them.

But Trump earlier warned that the United States stands ready to carry out military strikes against cartels that come into America by land.

“We will hit them very hard when they come in by land. They haven't experienced that yet, but we're totally prepared to do that,” Trump said on Tuesday.