FBI Looks to Add Cartel & Gang Associates to Terrorist Watch List

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

From a Reuters Article

The FBI has asked local police to submit the names of people tied to drug cartels and gangs to the U.S. government's terrorist watch list created after 9/11, which could land more Americans on the list, according to law enforcement documents seen by Reuters.

The bureau told law enforcement agencies in a May 9 email to share the names of people they believe are linked to eight criminal groups President Donald Trump has labeled foreign terrorist organizations. It also asked agencies to share information about family members and associates of the groups' members.

The existence of the email, which was obtained by the national security-focused transparency nonprofit Property of the People through a public records request and shared with Reuters, has not been previously reported. The email was sent to law enforcement agencies and groups including the National Sheriff's Association, which confirmed receiving it from the FBI.

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Trump Directs Military Action Against Cartels Following $50 Million Reward for Venezuela’s Maduro

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According to the New York Times, President Trump has secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that his administration has deemed terrorist organizations, according to people familiar with the matter.

The decision to bring the American military into the fight is the most aggressive step so far in the administration’s escalating campaign against the cartels. It signals Trump’s continued willingness to use military forces to carry out what has primarily been considered a law enforcement responsibility to curb the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs.

The order provides an official basis for the possibility of direct military operations at sea and on foreign soil against cartels.

U.S. military officials have started drawing up options for how the military could go after the groups, the people familiar with the conversations said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive internal deliberations.

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Utah Oil Family Are First US Citizens to Face Terrorism Support Charges in CJNG Fuel Theft Scheme Worth $300 Million

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A wealthy Utah family between May 2022 and March 2025, managed to cross into the United States some $300 million in crude oil, and they managed to launder at least $47 million of it for CJNG linked businesses.

They now face an additional charge: providing material support to a terrorist organization. 

The Jensens face charges including material support to a foreign terrorist organization, fuel trafficking, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $530 million.

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Terrorist Support Charges Brought Against Recently Arrested High-Ranking Female CJNG Trafficker "Chayo"

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Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez, 39, of Mexico, is the first trafficker from CJNG to be charged under the new cartel terrorist (FTO) designations in the United States and Canada. She was arrested earlier this month in Mexico.

The terrorism charges are primarily related to the allegations that her group conspired with others to provide and did attempt to provide grenades to the CJNG, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

“Cartels like CJNG are terrorist groups that wreak havoc in American communities and are responsible for countless lives lost in the United States, Mexico, and elsewhere.” stated US Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Additionally, Navarro-Sanchez, is charged with conspiracy to smuggle and transport aliens in the United States, straw purchasing and trafficking in firearms, bulk cash smuggling conspiracy, and conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

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Intelligence Reports Claim Mexican Cartels Plotted Assassination of Ecuador’s President Noboa

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Ecuador has declared a state of “maximum alert” over an assassination plot against President Daniel Noboa.

In a statement entitled “The revenge of the bad losers” issued early on Saturday, the Ministry of Government said “all security protocols have been activated” due to the threat emanating from “criminal organizations, in collusion with political groups defeated at the polls”.

Noboa was re-elected earlier this month, promising to continue a crackdown on rampant cartel violence that plagues Ecuador. 

His opponent, Luisa Gonzalez, has continued to insist that the vote was fraudulent.

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CIA Reviewing Its Authority for Lethal Force Use on Cartel Targets

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From a CNN Exclusive Report

The CIA is reviewing its authorities to use lethal force against drug cartels in Mexico and beyond as the Trump administration moves to make taking on the cartels a major priority for the intelligence agency, according to a US official and three people briefed on the matter.

The review does not indicate President Donald Trump has ordered the CIA to take direct action against the cartels. But it is designed to help the agency understand what kinds of activities it could legally undertake and what the potential risks would be across the suite of options, the sources said — underscoring how seriously the Trump administration is considering the possibility.

It also highlights some US officials’ concerns that using traditional counterterrorism tools against cartels — as the Trump administration has said it intends to do — carries a much higher risk of collateral damage to American citizens than similar operations conducted in the Middle East, far from US soil.

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DOJ Looks to Possibly Merge the DEA and ATF, Memo Reveals

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US Justice Department considers merging DEA, ATF in major shakeup, a memo says. This comes amidst previous comments by FBI Director Kash Patel of combining a portion of the ATF into the FBI. FBI Director Kash Patel is also serving as the ATF's Acting Director, in an unusual dual role.

Trump has nominated Terry Cole, a longtime law enforcement veteran, to lead the DEA, though he has not yet named a permanent head of the ATF.

The potential merger of the ATF and DEA would represent one of the biggest shakeups of the Justice Department's law enforcement components since following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

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Canada Designates Cartel Groups as Terrorists, Except for CDN/Los Zetas

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Canada has listed seven transnational criminal organizations as terrorist entities, the public safety minister said on Thursday.

The list includes Mara Salvatrucha, Cartel de Sinaloa and Tren de Aragua.

The announcement comes a day after the United States designated Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel and other drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Proposes Constitutional Reforms Following Cartel Terrorist Designations

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From an AP News Article

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday she will propose constitutional reforms aimed at protecting Mexico’s sovereignty after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration designated six Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

The U.S. designations have stirred worry in Mexico that it could be a preliminary step toward U.S. military intervention on Mexican territory in pursuit of the cartels, something Mexico sharply rejects.

“The Mexican people will not accept under any circumstances interventions, interference or any other act from abroad that could be harmful to the integrity, independence and sovereignty of the nation,” Sheinbaum said.

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The Terrorist Acts Committed By Each Designated Cartel, According to the US State Department

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

On February 20, the announcement was officially made to designate two transnational gangs and 6 Mexican drug cartels as terrorist groups. The list is the same as we have reported on before, but each group was described in more detail. The US State Department outlined the territory in which each group operates, their criminal activity and level of violence, political influence, assassinations and terrorist type acts to qualify them to be designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

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Elon Musk Posts That Cartels Are Eligible for Drone Strikes

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Elon Musk suggested that the new FTO designations of Mexican drug cartels means using drones to attack the drug cartels on Wednesday. The tech businessman has been at the center of controversy recently due to his strong role within Donald Trump's government as part of DOGE.

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Why Cárteles Unidos Was Included on the US Foreign Terrorist Organizations List

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From an Infobae Article Interviewing Security Expert David Saucedo

Not surprisingly, the Mexican criminal groups included in the list are the main exporters of fentanyl to the United States (CDS and CJNG); the two cartels with the largest presence on the Texas border (CDG and CDN); and the cartel (LNFM) recently included in the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list for manufacturing and shipping fentanyl across the Tamaulipas border.

The designation that surprised many was that of the United Cartels or Carteles Unidos, a criminal alliance that has its center of operations in the Tierra Caliente of Michoacán and includes among its ranks Los Viagras, Los Blancos de Troya, the Tepalcatepec Cartel, the Zicuirán Cartel, among other cells that once belonged to La Familia Michoacana and the Knights Templar.

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State Department Notice Officially Designates 8 Cartels/Gangs as Terrorist Groups

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The United States State Department designated the gangs MS-13, Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel among several other drug cartels as global terrorist organizations, according to a Federal Register notice.

The notice issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the groups pose a risk to U.S. national security, foreign policy and economic interests.

The notice was drafted on February 6, prior to the NYT leak about the designations list and made public today. According to the notice...the Cartel Terrorist Designations go into effect upon the publishing of the letter. February 20, 2025.

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Updated: Cartels Listed as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by US State Dept

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According to the New York Times, the Trump administration plans to designate more than a half-dozen criminal groups in Latin America as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), said five US officials with knowledge of the imminent action.

The Executive Order signed by President Trump on January 20, 2025, referred in general to cartels in Mexico. It also specifically named two gangs, Tren de Aragua, a group with roots in Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico and the United States and Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13.

The gang more commonly known as MS-13 was founded in Los Angeles, California by Salvadoran immigrants in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s and expanded throughout El Salvador and other countries following criminal deportations. While heavily involved in extortion, human trafficking and violence, they play a lesser role in the international drug trade.

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US Attorney General Issues Memo on 'Total Elimination of Cartels & TCOs'

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Yesterday morning, Pam Bondi was sworn in as the new Attorney General. Two weeks since President Trump issued the Executive Order to designate cartels and other transnational criminal groups as terrorists.

That day was after the 14 day time period in which federal agencies would make their recommendations for what groups and people fall under the criteria to be designated. Bondi then issued a DOJ memo outlining the plans and methods for eliminating these cartels and criminal groups.

However it falls short of specifically designating any groups mentioned as Transnational Criminal Organizations as terrorist groups. It does however outline the enforcement benefits with groups and individuals that the NSD (National Security Division) designates as terrorists.

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Trump Signs Executive Order Designating Cartels and Certain Gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Among the nearly hundred Executive Orders signed by newly inaugurated President Donald Trump on his first afternoon in office included an order to designate Mexican Cartels and other groups as FTOs, or Foreign Terrorist Organizations. 

This designation had been touted often during his first administration and when campaigning for both subsequent elections. Searching through Borderland Beat archives, Congress has been exploring this idea of designating the cartels as terrorists since at least 2012.

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Terrorist Group Setting Up Operations Near San Diego/Tijuana Border

SAN DIEGO -- A terrorist organization whose home base is in the Middle East has established another home base across the border in Mexico. "They are recognized by many experts as the 'A' team of Muslim terrorist organizations," a former U.S. intelligence agent told 10News. The former agent, referring to Shi'a Muslim terrorist group Hezbollah, added, "They certainly have had successes in big-ticket bombings."

Now, the group is blending into Shi'a Muslim communities in Mexico, including Tijuana. Other pockets along the U.S.-Mexico border region remain largely unidentified as U.S. intelligence agencies are focused on the drug trade...

The agent, who has spent years deep undercover in Mexico, said Hezbollah is partnering with drug organizations, but which ones is not clear at this time. This includes money laundering, firearms and explosives training. The undercover agent and Mexican intelligence tracked two Hezbollah operatives in safe houses in Tijuana and Durango. "I confirmed the participation of cartel members as well as other Hezbollah individuals living and operating out of there," he said.

According to the agent, the organization sees the U.S. as their "cash cow," with illegal drug and immigration operations. Many senior Hezbollah leaders are wealthy businessmen, the agent said."

See 10News.com for complete story.

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