United States Designates 8 Cartels as Terrorist Organizations
The Trump administration designated eight Latin American cartels as terrorist organizations on Thursday, a label normally used for organizations with political goals that are achieved through violence.
The U.S. Department of State filed the notice of the designation change in The Federal Registrar on 20 February. The action targets the following cartels:
- Cartel del Golfo, also known as CDG, Gulf Cartel, and Osiel cardenas-Guillen Organization
- Cartel del Noreste, also known as CDN, Northeast Cartel, and Los Zetas
- Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, also known as New Generation Cartel of Jalisco, CJNG, and Jalisco New Generation Cartel
- Cartel de Sinaloa, also known as Sinaloa Cartel, Mexican Federation, and Guadalajara Cartel
- Carteles Unidos, also known as United Cartels, Tepalcatepec Cartel, Cartel de Tepalcatepec, The Grandfather Cartel, Cartel del Abuelo, and Cartel de Los Reyes
- La Nueva Famila Michoacana, also known as LNFM
- Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13
- Tren de Aragua, also known as Aragua Train
The eight cartels’ members are “foreign persons that have committed or have attempted to commit, pose a significant risk of committing, or have participated in training to commit acts of terrorism that threaten the security of United States nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States,” according to the State Department filing.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that if the “that decree has to do with extraterritorial actions (in Mexico), those we do not accept,” the Associated Press (AP) reported. She did, however, say that Mexico was onboard with advancing joint investigations into cartel activity.
“If they make this decree to investigate even more in the United States the money laundering and the criminal groups that operate in the United States, that carry out those drug sales, it’s very good,” Sheinbaum said. “What we do not accept is the violation of our sovereignty.”
Designating a group as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) does not authorize the United States to use force against that group. But in a piece for Just Security, Brian Finucane, senior advisor with the U.S. Program at the International Crisis Group and former attorney-adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State, wrote that designating groups as terrorist organizations has previously paved the way for military action.
“Certainly the rhetoric from key figures close to President Trump suggests that the administration views FTO designation as a stepping stone to using force,” Finucane wrote. “Soon after the designations were publicly revealed, Elon Musk commented on social media that listing 'means they're eligible for drone strikes.' The Trump administration's 'border czar' Tom Homan said in November that the president was 'committed to calling [the cartels] terrorist organizations and using the full might of the United States special operations to take them out.'”
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office—20 January—to initiate his intention to designate these cartels as terrorist organizations.
“The Cartels functionally control, through a campaign of assassination, terror, rape, and brute force nearly all illegal traffic across the southern border of the United States,” the executive order said. “In certain portions of Mexico, they function as quasi-governmental entities, controlling nearly all aspects of society. The Cartels’ activities threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere. Their activities, proximity to, and incursions into the physical territory of the United States pose an unacceptable national security risk to the United States.”
In the 2024 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, the most recent assessment available, officials highlighted the threat that transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) pose to the United States—especially those involved in drug trafficking.
“Western Hemisphere-based TCOs involved in illicit drug production and trafficking bound for the United States and partner nations, endanger the health and safety of millions of individuals and contribute to a global health crisis,” the assessment said. “Illicit drugs including fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and South American-sourced cocaine all contribute to global demand for drugs.”
The assessment flagged Mexico-based TCOs as the main producers and suppliers of illicit drugs to the United States.
“Mexico-based TCOs are the dominant producers of illicit fentanyl for the U.S. market, although there are also independent illicit fentanyl producers, and the fragmentation of fentanyl operations has made disruption efforts challenging,” according to the assessment. “Some aspects of fentanyl production are spilling over into the United States with drug traffickers conducting the finishing stages of fentanyl pill packing or pressing in the United States.”
The assessment also explained that TCOs are actively involved in laundering billions of dollars of illicit funds through U.S. financial institutions. Some groups use shell and front companies, while others rely on professional money launderers or financial experts to move money from the illicit market into the legal one.
“TCOs still rely on traditional money laundering methods and bulk cash smuggling operations to repatriate drug proceeds from the United States, while some money launderers are using cryptocurrency transactions,” the assessment said.
In September 2024, for instance, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), conducted a raid in Los Angeles, California, to target businesses suspected of using the Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE) schemes to launder narcotics proceeds for international drug cartels. The law enforcement action resulted in nine arrests and the seizure of at least $65 million in cash and bank deposits.
How Designation Works
Traditionally, the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism (CT) is responsible for identifying foreign groups for designation as terrorist organizations—taking into consideration attacks the group has carried out, planning and preparation for future acts, and capability and intent to carry out these acts. The group’s terrorist activity or terrorism also must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security of the United States to qualify for designation.
U.S. law defines terrorist activity as activity that is illegal under the laws of where the activity occurred and involves:
- Hijacking or sabotaging a conveyance (including aircraft, vessel, or vehicle)
- Seizing or detaining, and threatening to kill, injure, or continue to detain an individual to compel a third person to act or refrain from acting to secure the release of the detained individual
- Violent attacking internationally protect people or the liberty of those people
- Committing an assassination
- Using biological agents, chemical agents, nuclear weapons or devices, explosives, firearms, or other weapons with the intent to endanger, directly or indirectly, the safety of one or more people or to cause significant damage to property
- Threatening, attempting to, or conspiring to commit any of the above
Terrorist activity can also include gathering information on potential targets for terrorist activity or soliciting funds and items of values for terrorist activities or terror organizations.
After identifying a group, the secretary of state consults with the U.S. attorney general and the secretary of the Treasury Department to designate the group as a terrorist organization. Congress is notified of the intent to designate the group and given seven days to review the designation, after which notice of the decision is published in the Federal Registrar to take effect.
The U.S. federal government has used this process to designate 68 foreign organizations as terrorist groups that remain on the CT list, including Boko Haram, Hamas, several iterations of ISIS, and the New Irish Republican Army.
What Designation Means
By designating these cartels as terrorist organizations, it is now illegal for people in the United States—or subject to U.S. jurisdiction—to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to them.
Material support and resources can include property, services, financial services, lodging, training, expert advice, safehouses, false documentation or identification, facilities, weapons, transportation, or personnel.
The designation allows U.S. authorities remove cartel representatives or members from the United Sates. It also creates requirements for U.S. financial institutions.
“Any U.S. financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which a designated [foreign terrorist organization] or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury,” according to the State Department.
But the designation is facing some pushback. U.S. Representative Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), ranking member of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, said in a statement shared with Security Management that the new designation leaves more questions than answers.
Thompson explained that the State Department said it had consulted with the U.S. attorney general and the secretary of the Treasury department to determine a “significant factual basis” for the terrorist designation, “yet there is no mention of a consultation with the Intelligence Community or Department of Homeland Security—and Congress has not been briefed on that ‘basis.’ The administration has also yet to explain why the designations are even necessary given current authorities to target international drug trafficking activity.”
