Trump's homeland security chief says pressure on Mexican cartels pushing crime to Canadian border

19-Jun-2026

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The U.S. crackdown on drug trafficking on the border with Mexico has triggered an increase in criminal activity coming across the border from Canada, according to Markwayne Mullin, the U.S. secretary of homeland security.

Speaking to an audience in Washington, D.C., on June 17 alongside Canada's Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree, Mullin said law enforcement officials are seeing an increase in fentanyl trafficking from Canada, something he attributed to U.S. efforts against Mexican cartels at the southern border.

"The biggest concern we see is what's happening on our southern border being pushed up to our northern border because of the pressure we're putting on the cartels," Mullin told a conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think-tank.

He said the cartels "don't just go away. Their business models still exist. The demand still exists, and so they start pushing and looking for other areas."