Guests - Douglas Quets, Nate Foster

A Father's Fight for Justice: How Nicholas Quets's Murder Sparked Action Against the Cartels

Lieutenant Colonel Doug Quets (Retired) never imagined that a routine weekend trip to Rocky Point would cost him his son and thrust his family into the center of America's border security crisis. But eight months after 31-year-old Marine veteran Nicholas Quets was executed by Sinaloa cartel members at a Mexican checkpoint, his father's relentless pursuit of justice has helped reshape how the United States confronts transnational criminal organizations.

Nicholas was everything a parent hopes for in a son. A decorated Marine veteran who served four years on active duty, he had transitioned to civilian life as a Pima County employee working in water reclamation. He was also a small business owner and an athlete who maintained strong friendships throughout his life. Like many Arizonans, Nicholas considered Rocky Point "Arizona's beach" – a place to escape the desert heat and enjoy some time in the water.

On October 18, 2024, Nicholas was driving his intentionally beat-up 25-year-old truck toward Rocky Point for what should have been a relaxing beach weekend. The vehicle was chosen specifically to avoid drawing attention – a precaution that ultimately proved insufficient against the predatory nature of cartel operations.

The Terrorist Ambush

What happened next was not a random crime or a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a calculated terrorist attack executed with military precision. Nicholas encountered a Sinaloa cartel checkpoint, which he immediately recognized as a terrorist ambush. As an experienced Marine, he made the tactical decision to evade rather than comply.

Approximately 25 cartel members in 11 vehicles – many of them stolen from the United States – pursued Nicholas for 11 kilometers before running him into a cement roadblock. After stopping his vehicle, they identified him as an American citizen. Phone calls were made. Discussions occurred. Then came the deliberate decision to execute him with a shot through the heart.

"They knew exactly who he was," Doug Quets explains. "There was a conversation that occurred before. This didn't happen during a firefight or during a pursuit. It occurred after he was slammed into a cement barrier in his truck."

The execution was an act of terrorism directed specifically against a U.S. citizen and veteran. Two months earlier, two elderly women from Phoenix – aged 70 and 82 – had actually stopped at a similar checkpoint and were still murdered, their car stolen. The pattern was clear: American citizens were being targeted for death regardless of their compliance.

Government Response and Political Awakening

When the State Department called the Quets family at midnight to confirm their worst fears, Doug and his wife faced the unimaginable reality of losing a child. They prepared for what they assumed would be media attention, but none came. Professional media outlets attempted to suppress the story, just as they had with similar cartel murders.

After four days of being ignored, the family finally reached their local representative. By coincidence, then-Senator J.D. Vance was making a campaign stop in Tucson. Through Juan Ciscomani's office, they arranged a 90-second meeting that would change everything.

"Senator Vance was amazing," Doug recalls. "As I told him the story, you saw him evolve from being a candidate to a senator to a regular Marine. He listened to Nick's story and recognized it for what it was – lily white, with nothing to it other than what it was."

What was scheduled as a brief encounter stretched to 15 minutes as Vance asked detailed questions about potential responses. Doug laid out operational possibilities based on successful counter-cartel actions in Colombia and other locations. The next morning, President Trump's office called.

Two days later, Trump invited the Quets family to meet with him in Phoenix. The encounter revealed a side of Trump that contrasts sharply with media portrayals. "President Trump was completely gracious and very personable," Doug notes. "Once we started talking, he was actually in listening mode in a very respectful way."

Presidential Commitment and Action

The relationship between the Quets family and the incoming administration deepened rapidly. Trump invited them to speak on his behalf in Henderson, Nevada, and later to attend his inauguration. During his inaugural address, Trump's second sentence referenced Nicholas's case without mentioning him by name, signaling that border security and cartel enforcement would be top priorities.

The results came swiftly. Within a month of Trump taking office, multiple cartels including the Sinaloa cartel were designated as foreign terrorist organizations. This designation fundamentally changed how the United States could respond to cartel activities, providing new legal frameworks for targeting their operations and finances.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem reinitiated the Voice (Victims of Immigrant Crime Engagement) program, designed to help families affected by violent crime. The Quets family met with other victims' families, including relatives of Jocelyn Aguirre, for whom Trump renamed a wildlife refuge in Houston.

Financial Warfare Against the Cartels

On Nicholas's 32nd birthday, March 31st, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent levied the initial financial sanctions against the Sinaloa cartel in Nicholas's name. These weren't symbolic gestures – they represented sophisticated financial warfare designed to cripple cartel operations.

Financial sanctions against terrorist organizations create cascading effects beyond simple asset freezing. They force criminal organizations out of their comfort zones, making them alter operational procedures and take risks they would otherwise avoid. When forced to find new money transfer methods, cartels make mistakes that create additional targeting opportunities.

Just recently, Bessent announced additional sanctions against Sinaloa factions involved in fentanyl production and trafficking. These actions specifically targeted the gunmen responsible for Nicholas's murder, demonstrating the administration's commitment to pursuing justice for American victims of cartel violence.

Operational Disruption and Family Dynamics

The capture and voluntary surrender of two of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's sons has created unprecedented disruption within the Sinaloa organization. The brothers, along with about 17 family members, were brought to the United States under amnesty agreements requiring guilty pleas. Two other sons remained in Mexico, creating a dangerous rift within the cartel's leadership structure.

This division serves multiple strategic purposes. The family members in U.S. custody remain safe only as long as they avoid criminal activity and provide intelligence about ongoing cartel operations. Their brothers in Mexico must now operate without this family network while dealing with information being shared by their captured siblings.

The Sinaloa cartel, which may number 60,000 people across the Americas including subcontractors and specialists, now faces internal warfare as different factions compete for control. This infighting serves U.S. interests by weakening the organization's overall effectiveness and creating opportunities for further law enforcement action.

The Border Security Connection

Nicholas's murder cannot be separated from broader immigration and border security failures. The cartels that killed him are the same organizations that controlled American border crossings for four years, charging anywhere from $6,000 to $12,000 per person to smuggle migrants into the United States. Special interest aliens from countries of particular concern commanded much higher prices.

During the height of the Biden administration, 10,000 to 14,000 migrants crossed the border daily. Former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson had previously stated that 1,000 crossings per day constituted a crisis beyond the department's capacity to handle. The sustained influx of 14 times that number overwhelmed not just border security but immigration courts, social services, and law enforcement throughout the country.

The cartels made more money from human trafficking between 2021 and 2023 than from drug smuggling, according to multiple studies. This financial incentive created a massive criminal enterprise that corrupted officials, funded violence, and destabilized communities on both sides of the border.

The Human Cost of Open Borders

Doug Quets sees his son's murder as directly connected to the broader failures of immigration policy. The same cartels that killed Nicholas were empowered by policies that effectively opened America's borders and promised sanctuary to anyone who could successfully cross.

"When you see what's happening in Los Angeles and now in other smaller venues across the nation, those things are actually directly related to the Sinaloas and the other organizations," he explains. "They were charging people thousands of dollars to bring them in, and special interest aliens from places we definitely do not want people coming from were brought in for much higher prices."

The promise made to migrants was simple: once you're in, you're in. No ICE agent would come to remove you. Department of Homeland Security personnel were reassigned from border security to social work, facilitating rather than preventing illegal entry. This created a perception among millions of people worldwide that American law enforcement had essentially been neutered.

Now, as ICE agents attempt to arrest violent criminals who should never have been allowed to remain in the country, they face violent resistance from communities that were told they had a right to be here regardless of their legal status. The riots in Los Angeles and planned protests elsewhere represent the collision between promises made during the open border period and the reality of law enforcement.

The Price of Corruption and Complacency

The conservative estimate of 7 million illegal migrants entering over four years represents enough people to swing elections in 36 states – essentially importing a city the size of Phoenix with no respect for rule of law. This population was deliberately brought in to avoid legal immigration processes, creating a constituency with no investment in American institutions or constitutional governance.

The financial cost extends beyond direct government expenditures. Billions of dollars were diverted through NGOs and organizations claiming humanitarian purposes, with much of the money disappearing into untraceable channels. Some of those funds may now be supporting the very riots and protests designed to prevent law enforcement from doing its job.

When politicians oppose the rule of law in favor of illegal migration, they're not making humanitarian gestures – they're looking toward redistricting and gerrymandering opportunities that come with population changes. This isn't about compassion; it's about political power acquired through demographic manipulation.

Remembering Nicholas

Nicholas Quets was born in Panama to a military family that moved around the world before settling in Tucson when Doug retired from the Army in 2007. Both Nicholas and his sister Alexis graduated from Empire High School and attended the University of Arizona and Pima Community College before entering military service.

Nicholas chose the Marine Corps and served honorably for four years before returning to Tucson to build his life. He was working for Pima County while running a small business on the side – doing exactly what America asks of its veterans and citizens. He was a fish who loved the ocean, and like countless Arizonans, he considered Rocky Point his beach escape from the desert.

His death wasn't inevitable or unavoidable. It was the direct result of policy choices that empowered criminal organizations and ignored the safety of American citizens. The fact that his murder was initially suppressed by media outlets, and that similar killings had occurred without consequence, demonstrates how far American institutions had fallen in protecting their own people.

Justice and Moving Forward

The designation of cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, combined with aggressive financial sanctions and operational disruption, represents the kind of response Nicholas's murder demanded. But Doug Quets understands that individual justice, while important, must be part of a broader commitment to protecting American citizens from transnational criminal organizations.

"History will not accept difficulties as an excuse," he notes, quoting President Kennedy. "We're at a difficult time and that's why you're seeing a turning point in this country. We're going to get more American and get back to where we were, or we could possibly lose it."

The choice between rule of law and chaos isn't abstract for families like the Quetses. It's measured in lives lost to cartel violence, communities destroyed by fentanyl, and young Americans who die because their government failed to protect them from known threats.

Nicholas Quets died because evil was allowed to flourish at America's borders. His father's fight for justice has helped ensure that his death contributes to the restoration of American sovereignty and the protection of future victims. The question now is whether Americans will support the difficult work of restoring order, or allow the chaos of the past four years to continue claiming innocent lives.

Local Law Enforcement Faces Unprecedented Challenges

As protests planned for Tucson mirror the violence erupting in Los Angeles, the city's police force confronts a perfect storm of depleted resources, escalating civil unrest, and political leadership that refuses to acknowledge the crisis. Nate Foster, spokesperson for the Tucson Police Protective League, provides a stark assessment of the challenges facing local law enforcement and the communities they serve.

Stretched Beyond Breaking Point

The Tucson Police Department currently has approximately 700 deployable sworn officers – a dramatic reduction from the 900 officers serving in 2020. This represents a loss of over 200 officers during a period when the city's challenges have multiplied exponentially. The department lost significant personnel after the 2020 protests and riots, and Foster warns that another prolonged period of civil unrest could push more officers out the door.

"We can't afford to lose a single person at this point," Foster explains. Only a fraction of those 700 officers actually work patrol duties, meaning the department's capacity to respond to emergencies while managing large-scale protests is severely compromised.

The mathematics are unforgiving. Protests and riots are extremely labor-intensive operations that can tie up entire police forces. When officers are deployed to manage civil unrest, emergency calls throughout the city receive inadequate responses or no response at all. Major emergencies that would normally require substantial police presence may get minimal attention simply because no officers are available.

The Pattern of Organized Violence

Foster recognizes the current situation as following established patterns of politically motivated unrest. These aren't spontaneous expressions of community frustration – they're coordinated events with documented funding sources and professional organization.

"We saw that historically, and I think as of right now, especially with LA, there's a lot of information out there documenting the funding sources for what's going on," Foster notes. The same organizations that funded previous riots in Minneapolis and other cities are behind the current wave of protests, using refined techniques developed over years of practice.

The protests begin with what appears to be righteous outrage over specific incidents, but quickly evolve into coordinated violence involving professional agitators and opportunistic criminals. The agitators coordinate activities through cell phone networks, directing when and how violence escalates, while criminals participate for personal gain and entertainment.

Political Silence and Abandonment

Local political leadership's response to the crisis has been characterized by silence and inaction. Foster doesn't expect current officials to encourage protests as openly as they did in 2020, but neither does he anticipate meaningful support for law enforcement or condemnation of violence.

"There's not going to be any condemnation from our local officials on any of this stuff. They are going to stay quiet on it and let the news cycle report around it. Nothing's going to change in my opinion," Foster predicts.

This political abandonment places officers in impossible situations. They must maintain order and protect the community without backing from the very officials who appointed them and control their budgets. Meanwhile, those same officials benefit politically from appearing sympathetic to protesters while avoiding responsibility for the consequences of uncontrolled violence.

The Business Community Under Siege

The impact on Tucson's business community extends far beyond property damage during riots. Years of inadequate policing have created an environment where businesses struggle to survive mounting theft, vandalism, and safety concerns. Many business owners who invested their life savings into serving their communities are now considering abandoning those investments.

When businesses close due to crime and instability, the effects ripple through entire neighborhoods. Low-income residents, who typically lack reliable transportation, are hit hardest when local stores and services disappear. They're forced to rely on public transportation that has itself become increasingly unsafe, creating cycles of economic and social isolation.

The irony is unmistakable: politicians who claim to champion the disenfranchised and lower-income residents implement policies that harm those very communities most severely. Their decisions drive away the businesses and services that working-class neighborhoods need most.

Resource Depletion and Multiple Crises

The homeless crisis compounds law enforcement challenges exponentially. Foster confirms that homelessness appears to be increasing throughout the city, creating dangerous situations as temperatures rise into summer extremes. Homeless individuals wandering into traffic, camping in unsafe locations, and leaving waste and debris create public health hazards that strain police resources.

These separate crises – potential riots, overwhelming homelessness, routine crime, and emergency responses – create impossible demands on a police force that has been reduced by more than 20% since 2020. Each crisis demands immediate attention, but addressing one necessarily means neglecting others.

The situation becomes particularly dangerous when multiple emergencies occur simultaneously. If officers are deployed to manage protests while homeless individuals create safety hazards elsewhere in the city, response times for genuine emergencies can stretch beyond acceptable limits.

The Immigration Connection

Foster draws clear connections between current unrest and broader immigration policy failures. The people ICE is attempting to arrest in Los Angeles and other cities aren't ordinary immigrants seeking better lives – they're violent criminals who should never have been allowed to remain in the country.

"When someone's here illegally and they commit a serious crime, that is a preventable situation because they shouldn't be here in the first place," Foster explains. The enforcement actions that triggered the riots target exactly the kind of criminals that effective border security is designed to prevent.

The protests essentially defend the right of criminal aliens to remain in American communities despite having committed serious crimes. This represents a fundamental rejection of the rule of law and the principle that immigration status doesn't exempt anyone from criminal accountability.

Federal Intervention and Military Support

If local situations deteriorate beyond police capacity to maintain order, Foster acknowledges that National Guard deployment may become necessary. While he prefers not to see military forces operating in civilian areas, the reality of depleted police resources may leave no alternative.

"Do I want that to happen? No. I don't like the idea or the optic of living in a military police state. It's not good," Foster admits. However, when local law enforcement cannot fulfill its duty to protect the community, military assistance becomes the only option for preventing complete breakdown of civil order.

The deployment of military forces represents a failure of local political leadership more than anything else. Officials who refuse to adequately fund police departments or support law enforcement operations eventually create situations where military intervention becomes unavoidable.

Counter-Protest Dangers

Foster strongly discourages citizens from organizing counter-protests against planned demonstrations. Such actions would expose peaceful residents to unnecessary violence while providing no constructive benefit. Counter-protesters would face organized, potentially violent groups without adequate police protection.

"You're subjecting yourselves to violence with police that are probably not going to interject themselves into the middle of the situation like you would hope they would," Foster warns. The depleted police force simply cannot provide protection for multiple competing groups while maintaining overall public safety.

Counter-protests also tend to escalate violence rather than reducing it. Professional agitators want confrontation and conflict – counter-protesters would give them exactly what they're seeking while putting innocent people at risk.

The Electoral Solution

Foster identifies voting as the only realistic path toward resolving Tucson's law enforcement crisis. Local officials who refuse to adequately fund police departments or support public safety must be replaced by leaders who understand the connection between effective policing and community wellbeing.

"People need to really pay attention to who they vote for. If you don't like the current situation you're in, voting for the same people is just going to continue to guarantee that your situation doesn't change," Foster emphasizes.

The problem extends beyond individual elections to fundamental civic engagement. Too many residents ignore local elections where the most immediate decisions about public safety are made. City council races often generate minimal voter turnout, allowing organized political minorities to control outcomes that affect entire communities.

Long-term Consequences

The current crisis represents more than temporary unrest – it's a fundamental challenge to whether Tucson can maintain the civil order necessary for a functioning community. Each business that closes, each officer who leaves the force, and each family that moves away represents a step toward social breakdown.

Foster sees the current moment as a test of whether local leadership will finally acknowledge reality and take necessary action, or continue the policies that have brought the city to its current state. The outcome will determine whether Tucson becomes another example of urban decay or demonstrates that American communities can still choose order over chaos.

The choice isn't between perfect solutions and continued problems – it's between taking difficult but necessary action to restore public safety, or accepting the continued deterioration of community life. For law enforcement officers trying to protect and serve with inadequate resources and minimal political support, that choice has never been more urgent.