Buchanan: Take El Chapo's Money and Build the Wall

Submitted by Nancy Smith on July 17, 2019 - 10:31am

The following piece has been condensed from an oped published Tuesday in the Bradenton Herald:

Vern Buchanan

Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera is expected to be sentenced Wednesday to spend the rest of his life behind bars. As he contemplates his future in jail, we should take his seized confiscated assets to help secure the border with Mexico.

El Chapo was unanimously found guilty of 10 federal criminal counts brought against him earlier this year. These include peddling thousands of pounds of narcotics, operating a criminal enterprise and weapons violations.

Through his unparalleled wealth, the former head of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel ruled through fear, bloodshed and showering local law enforcement and politicians with graft. And he was twice on the lam after escaping from Mexican prisons.

With El Chapo soon to call a maximum-security cell home, what will happen to all of his drug money?

We’re making a big push in Congress to pass the El CHAPO Act, which I’ve co-sponsored. This legislation would direct billions of dollars’ worth of the drug lord’s confiscated assets to help secure the southern border.

Guzman’s drug empire has accrued an estimated $14 billion from narcotic sales responsible for affecting and destroying the lives of countless Americans. Congress should pass this commonsense bill to divert his blood money to help stop the flow of drugs and violence into our neighborhoods and give President Trump another tool to build the wall.

What is occurring at the border is harmful to both Americans and those trying to sneak over. With hundreds of thousands of migrants attempting to illegally cross the southern border, it is undeniable that there is a crisis at our southern border.

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