Blackwater Founder Proposes “Letters of Marque” For Dealing With Cartels
Blackwater founder Erik Prince said in not so many words that the US government should issue so-called “letters of marque” to private military companies so that they can operate outside the US, for example in Latin America.
“Letters of marque” will allow PMCs to operate in territories where American laws do not apply, but Mexican drug cartels do. If Trump grants private military companies the appropriate powers, then PMCs can take on the fight against drugs and illegal migration on the border with Mexico.
🇺🇸🇲🇽 Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Proposes Private Military Contractors Take on Drug Cartels
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) February 2, 2025
Erik Prince, founder of the private military company Blackwater, has suggested that Donald Trump issue "letters of marque"—a historical wartime authorization—to allow U.S. private… pic.twitter.com/bOjZaxsKR5
Prince doesn’t know how the idea with the certificates will be implemented; the last letter of marque in the US was issued in 1942, to an airship operator who hunted Japanese submarines. But it is possible to provide a legal basis for this and issue PMCs “hunting licenses” even now. The first thing this is needed for is to stop the flow of drugs across the border.
So this could be done in certain areas of Mexico, certain areas of Latin America, to eliminate the benefit of the illegal trade and, of course, to eliminate the ability of the cartels to operate and terrorize the local civilian population.
– Prince said.
Prince spoke with Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle about a recent post from Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), discussing what Letters of Marque and Reprisal were and how they could be used to weaken the drug cartels. Prince admitted that he had “helped put this idea in Senator Lee’s head.”
🧵 1/ What Are Letters Of Marque And Reprisal And How Could They Be Used To Weaken Drug Cartels? 🚨 pic.twitter.com/0EeQigzVYm
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) January 27, 2025
“Letters of marque and reprisal are government-issued commissions that authorize private citizens (privateers) to perform acts that would otherwise be considered piracy, like attacking enemy ships during wartime Privateers are rewarded with a cut of the loot they ‘bring home,’” Lee explained in his post.
When asked by Boyle “what the process would be for a Letter of Marque to be issued” and if it would come from the White House or Congress, Prince explained that the “last Letter of Marque” had been issued after Pearl Harbor “to a blimp operator who was authorized to hunt Japanese submarines.”
“One of the systemic problems we have — call it a structural problem of the U.S. security apparatus is all kinds of stove pipes. Because now you have China organizing fentanyl. So, you have a paycom area interest, pushing chemicals into Mexico, where they’re now fabricated into fentanyl and then pushed north. So, is it a northern command issue? Is it a DEA issue? Is it a border patrol issue? Is it a paycom issue?” Prince said.
“The problem is, you have so many different bureaucracies involved that no one is able to swim in between those bureaucracies in that dead space — the cartels do, but no government entity can move that quickly. So, the cartels basically operate inside of the OODA Loop of the U.S. government. And, really, only a private organization is going to be able to move that decisively with the flexibility required.”
“The cartels make enormous amounts of money that let’s them buy very good technology, very high end talent, very high end weaponry. They out gun Mexican law enforcement. I feel terrible for a state or local cop, or a federal cop in Mexico, because within days of coming on to a certain drug team, their family members are getting visited,” Prince continued.