Congressman Dan Crenshaw tells FOX 26, 'The cartels need to know they have pissed us off'

A year has passed since Houston-area Congressman and former Navy Seal Dan Crenshaw took the helm of a special House task force aimed at countering immensely powerful and increasingly lethal Mexican drug cartels.

Crenshaw's conclusion.

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"They need to know that they have pissed us off. They need to know that it is in their best interest to change their business model. They are still going to sell a bunch of other drugs, but most of those other drugs aren't killing us, fentanyl is," said Crenshaw.

Crenshaw's message to Mexico's President-Elect Claudia Sheinbaum is that close military collaboration with the U.S. is the pragmatic path forward for both countries. 

"The obviously preferred method is right alongside the Mexican military. We already train with them. We already do it, so they just need more help. They need more assets. They need more close air support, better weapons, better intelligence, all of it," said Crenshaw.

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Crenshaw also offered powerful perspective on Israel's war with Hamas and rebutted those who insist the Jewish state's counterattack has been heavy-handed in terms of collateral civilian damage.  

"Let's say Galveston was packed with a bunch of terrorists and started lobbing missiles and bombs at Houston, and then did an attack and killed over a thousand and raped and burned babies and kidnapped over a thousand Houstonians. What would we do? A lot is the answer. There would be a lot done. We would make sure every single person responsible, or even related to the people responsible, were rooted out and that's what Israel is going to do," said Crenshaw.