The Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah has also made inroads into the region in recent years, revealing the transnational nature of the threat. Ayman Joumaa, a Lebanese drug kingpin, was indicted in 2011 and remains at large for trafficking Colombian cocaine into America and laundering hundreds of millions in profits back to Lebanon through front companies.
Noriega pointed to the recent elections in El Salvador as another example of U.S. neglect toward the region.
The State Department remained neutral during the election won by Salvador Sanchez Ceren of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), a former rebel guerilla group during El Salvador’s bloody civil war in the 1980s. Reports linked Sanchez Ceren and the FMLN to drug trafficking deals involving the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Venezuelan government.
Recent reports from the country have also been troubling. Several high-level military officials are under investigation for allegedly providing hundreds of assault rifles to MS-13, which additionally operates in more than 40 U.S. states.
"There’s going to be a time when MS-13 fires an RPG into an Alexandria [Va.] police car, and [Americans] are going to say what the hell happened?" Noriega said.
Vice President Joe Biden will meet with Sanchez Ceren this week as part of his trip to Latin America. Biden’s office did not respond to a request for comment.