Nothing the US military can’t fix (or make things worse?) when the time comes. If the cartels get in the way of making money through industry they will be taken down a few notches.
The US military would be unable to defeat the cartels. The US military is designed to fight standing armies, not criminal organizations or insurgencies. Any plausible solution to the cartel issue will take a long time to implement and require some unpalatable choices. For example: indefinite suspension of legal rights and due process for all military age males; arbitrary arrests and detention; mass amnesties; legalization; curfews; invasive government surveillance.
The El Salvadoran military defeated their local chapters. Though you are right about the necessity of suspending due process in cartel-controlled regions.
