Cartels to blame for screwworm spread: Ex-border patrol agent

A former U.S. Border Patrol agent told NewsNation that the spread of the New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite, is linked to cartels and a border-driven supply chain that traces back to 2021. Ammon Blair, who consults for Texas’ Operation Lone Star Task Force, said Mexican cartels have built a cattle-smuggling pipeline through Central America. He described routes primarily through Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala before cattle reach Mexico, with fly eggs laid on wildlife, pets, and livestock. Blair connected a breakdown of a “biological containment barrier” in Panama—supported by weekly sterile fly releases—to rising migration through the Darién Gap in 2021. He estimated cartels move about 800,000 head of cattle into Mexico annually and estimated the laundering operation is worth roughly $320 million per year. As of June 23, officials confirmed 19 U.S. cases, with the first detected in Texas on June 3.