secured an interview with a member of what has been described as the most notorious drug trafficking organisation in the world, with surprising results. The unnamed trafficker spoke from a secret location in Sinaloa, Mexico, and left an interviewer open-mouthed with his reaction to 's suggestion that he could conduct "lethal strikes" against his people.

When prompted to give a criticism of the US President who has been very vocal about his plans for zero tolerance of cross-border drug deals, the member simply said he had "respect" for him. Reporter Isobel Yeung was hoping for a huge scoop when she quizzed: "According to the Trump Administration, you are a terrorist... You are a member of a terrorist organization. What do you make of that?" The gang member didn't lose his cool or composure as he calmly shot back: "The situation is ugly, but we have to eat."

"What is your message to Donald Trump if he's watching this?" the reporter asked as she continued to probe him.

The cartel member responded: "My respect," before rationalising: "According to him, he's looking out for his people."

He added that the consumers of drugs were primarily in the USA and that "if there weren't any consumers, we would stop".

One viewer on X exclaimed: "The Cartel News Network was clearly hoping for a 'Trump is evil, we'll kill him' soundbite. Instead it ended up completely backfiring on them."

The Trump adminstration announced plans yesterday (May 4) to designate drug cartels as "enemy combatants", which could lead to strikes being carried out against them.

Meanwhile, there was a backlash from some on X at the idea that a journalist was doing a face-to-face interview with a cartel member at all.

Declaring the interview an "offense to America", one argued: "That 'journalist' is an enabler. She's enabling terrorists. She should be arrested."

Another disgruntled viewer wrote: "This is absolutely evil. Interviewing cartel...the people that human traffic children, smuggle drugs into the US, rape, murder and rob people. Just when you think MSM can't sink any lower the next day happens."

A third quizzed: "Why would they even try to use the cartel against Trump? How unamerican", while a fourth exclaimed: "Were they going to root for the cartel? CNN is disturbingly desperate."