The U.S. Department of State designated six Mexican drug cartels, the Salvadoran Mara Salvatrucha and the Venezuelan Tren De Aragua gang, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, confirming a prior report by Breitbart Texas. The New York Times has mistakenly reported that the list included a Colombian cartel that was not designated as such.
On Wednesday February 19, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio filed Public Notice 12672 on the Federal Register, where he officially designated certain cartels and criminal gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO).
As Breitbart Texas reported on February 13, the groups now labeled as terrorists include:
-Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)
-Tren De Aragua (Aragua Train)
-Cartel Del Sinaloa (Sinaloa Cartel, Mexican Federation, and Guadalajara Cartel)
-Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (New Generation Cartel of Jalisco, CJNG)
-Carteles Unidos (United Cartels, Cartel de Tepalcatepec, Tepalcatepec Cartel, The Grandfather Cartel, Cartel Del Abuelo, Cartel Los Reyes)
-Cartel Del Noreste (CDN, Northeast Cartel, Los Zetas)
-Cartel Del Golfo (CDG, Gulf Cartel, Osiel Cardenas Guillen Organization
-La Nueva Familia Michoacana (LNFM)
The list does not include Colombia’s Clan Del Golfo, which the New York Times reported was being designated as such due to their human smuggling operations. Breitbart Texas’ Director Brandon Darby had access to various FBI documents that revealed that the Times‘ reporting was inaccurate and the Gulf Cartel was, instead, the group being designated as an FTO.
The terrorist designation comes as the Trump administration has been pressuring Mexico to act against drug cartels The president has also accused that country’s government of being tied to criminal organizations.
The cartels in the list have all been tied to mass killings, clandestine gravesites, widespread kidnappings, extortion, arson, and torture. As part of their enforcement actions, the six cartels in Mexico have all been tied to the indiscriminate use of explosives, which have killed and injured innocent victims as well as spread terror through Mexico.
As Breitbart Texas reported, the criminal organizations have all been able to operate with almost complete impunity due to the protection of corrupt Mexican government officials and the inaction of the country’s military and federal forces.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with the Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at
