In a move that has sparked debate, President Donald Trump granted a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road dark web marketplace, who had been serving two life sentences plus 40 years for enabling the illegal trade of drugs and other illicit goods. People using his site traded in bitcoin to avoid detection.

While Trump has vowed to "take down the cartels, just as we took down the ISIS caliphate," history has shown that's easier said than done. America tried "decapitating" the cartels in the early 2010s, and it led to an even bloodier situation in Mexico.