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Strategic Plan FYs 2026 – 2030

Strategic Plan FYs 2026 – 2030
Goal 1: Keep our Country Safe and Secure

Objective 1.3: Dismantle the Illegal Drug Trade

The illegal drug trade is organized, transnational, multijurisdictional, and deeply integrated with money laundering, weapons trafficking, human smuggling, and other criminal activity. Drug cartels generate billions of dollars annually from U.S. drug sales, and the U.S. remains the largest drug market globally. These networks are illegally embedded into the U.S. economy and cost our country more than $700 billion annually. International cooperation is critical to the ability to eliminate these organizations and stop the flow of drugs to the United States. Polysubstance use and illicit substances laced with unknown and potentially deadly substances remain a serious issue with high rates of fatal and nonfatal overdoses. Approximately 70 percent of overdose deaths involve synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl—making it the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18-45.

One of the Department of Justice’s top priorities is ending illegal trafficking of dangerous drugs and dismantling the networks that facilitate the trade of harmful substances that kill many Americans. The Department will dismantle the Mexican drug trafficking organizations—focusing on the Sinaloa and CJNG cartels as the engine behind the fentanyl crisis and a significant threat to public safety. DOJ will also prioritize supply chains and pursue border barriers, money launderers and illicit finance related to drug trafficking. In 2025, Homeland Security Task Forces were implemented to end the presence of criminal cartels, foreign gangs, and transnational criminal organizations in the United States. The Department will leverage HSTFs as an integrated, interagency platform to surge resources against transnational cartel and drug-trafficking networks; assist in the coordination of investigations; disrupt illegal supply chains; identify illicit finance; and seize narcotics, proceeds, and weapons.

Strategies to Achieve Objective 1.3

  • Leverage an integrated, interagency platform to disrupt and dismantle national and international drug trafficking organizations by focusing on the Sinaloa and CJNG cartels 
  • Combine enforcement, border barriers integrated with technology, intelligence, sanctions, and international collaboration to shut down drug supply routes including cyber and dark web marketplaces
  • Target illicit finance and cryptocurrency and seize narcotics, proceeds, and weapons 

Key Performance Indicators

  • Number of disruptions or dismantlements of priority cartel-affiliated organizations
  • Number of disruptions or dismantlements in HSTF-designated drug-related transnational organized crime (TOC) investigations
  • Number of firearms trafficking cases referred for prosecution

Agency Priority Goal: Combat the Fentanyl Crisis 

One of the highest priorities of the President is to combat the illegal flow of drugs, particularly fentanyl, and to dismantle the networks that facilitate the trade of harmful substances. By September 30, 2027, the Department of Justice (DOJ) will execute 800 disruptions or dismantlements of priority cartel-affiliated organizations—focusing on the Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). Moreover, as part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), the Department will carry out 276 disruptions or dismantlements of transnational criminal organizations in HSTF-designated investigations related to fentanyl.

Enterprise Risk Themes

External Drivers of Crime Violent • Crime and Public Safety • Coordination and Governance Challenges

Participating Components: ATF, CIV, COPS, CRM, DEA, ENRD, FBI, JMD, OJP, USAO/EOUSA, USMS