Trump Convenes 'Shield of the Americas' Summit to Combat Cartels

17 nations joined the counter-cartel coalition, while Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil — home to the region's largest drug production and trafficking corridors — were not part of it

8 cartels and criminal organizations were designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations on February 20, 2025 — a step Congress debated since at least 2011

U.S. drug overdose deaths fell 26.9% in 2024, from 110,037 to 80,391 — a decline that began before the coalition was announced

The U.S. has spent over $1 trillion on drug enforcement since 1971; the federal drug control budget grew from $1 billion in 1981 to $41 billion by 2022

RAND found that designating cartels as terrorists 'puts new tools in play,' including asset freezes, travel bans, and material-support prosecutions against facilitators