MEXICO CITY – The United States government is formally designating eight Latin American organized crime groups that also operate in the U.S. to be “foreign terrorist organizations.” They are involved in drug trafficking, migrant smuggling and extend their territory through violence.
The Trump administration is applying a “terrorist” designation that’s normally reserved for groups like the Islamic State group or al-Qaida that use violence for political ends — not for money-focused crime rings such as the Latin American cartels. The aim is to increase pressure on the groups and anyone who the U.S. sees as aiding them. The designation will be published in Thursday’s edition of the Federal Register, according to a notice Wednesday.
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Here’s a look at the eight Latin American drug cartels labeled as foreign terrorist organizations:
Sinaloa Cartel — Mexico
The Sinaloa Cartel, through various incarnations, is Mexico’s oldest criminal group – dating to the 1970s. It is a criminal conglomerate, an umbrella of sorts for various groups, based in the mountains of the state by the same name in northwest Mexico. It holds firm control of the western portion of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Sinaloa moves all sorts of drugs across continents using boats, planes, migrants and cross-border tunnels. It’s considered the most corrupting criminal organization in Mexico. A former security chief was convicted of helping them.
One of their most lucrative businesses in recent years has been the production of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, blamed for tens of thousands of overdose deaths each year in the U.S. Sinaloa imports the precursor chemicals from China, produces the drug and smuggles it across the border.
The arrest of Sinaloa’s eldest leader, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada in July set off months of internal jockeying for power between Zambada loyalists and sons of the cartel’s best known former leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, already serving a life sentence in the U.S.
Jalisco New Generation Cartel — Mexico
The gruesome discovery of some thirty dismembered bodies dumped in the hotel zone of Veracruz in 2011 announced the arrival of the “Zeta Killers,” who soon established themselves as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, a hyper-violent and fast-growing group that spread through sort of franchise agreements with local gangs.
Jalisco, named for a west-central Mexican state where it’s based, has aggressively attacked Mexican authorities, including military helicopters, using explosive-dropping drones and improvised explosive devices. It even attempted a spectacular assassination of the then-Mexico City police chief — now Mexico’s security director — in the heart of the capital.
Led by Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says Jalisco distributes tons of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl in all 50 states.
Gulf Cartel and Northeast Cartel — Mexico
Both the Gulf Cartel and Northeast Cartel operate along the eastern end of the U.S.-Mexico border, moving drugs, immigrants, guns and money in what is the most direct route to the U.S. from Central and South America.
The Gulf Cartel has a long history in Mexico, but has fractured in recent years spurring frequent clashes between factions.
Its former leader, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén (now imprisoned in Mexico after serving a sentence in the U.S.), recruited members of Mexico's military in the late 1990s to form a fearsome element known as the Zetas that eventually split and became their own drug trafficking organization.
The Northeast Cartel is a remnant of the Zetas.
The Northeast cartel has retained a relatively small portion of what the Zetas once ruled through relentless violence. Their base is Nuevo Laredo, the busiest commercial port on the U.S.-Mexico border.
La Nueva Familia Michoacana and United Cartels — Mexico
These local organized crime groups, operating in west-central Mexico, produce synthetic drugs, but they are a concern to the U.S. because of something else: avocados.
Security analyst David Saucedo points out that the state of Michoacan exports $2.8 billion of avocados, a trade threatened by local criminal groups. U.S. inspectors working in Michoacan checking for pests have been threatened on multiple occasions by these groups, which control production and, to an extent, the price of avocados through extortion and threats to growers.
Tren de Aragua — Venezuela
This organized crime group emerged from a prison in central Venezuela more than a decade ago. In recent years, it has spread from Chile to the United States, capitalizing on the exodus of some 8 million Venezuelans escaping their country’s political and economic crises.
While its origins are in drug trafficking, its main businesses are migrant smuggling, human trafficking, sexual exploitation and forced labor. It’s known for extreme violence — decapitations and burying victims alive — that has generated panic in countries across the hemisphere.
U.S. authorities say Tren de Aragua insinuated itself into criminal networks in South America, launders its proceeds through crypto currencies and now poses a threat in various U.S. cities. Trump and his allies have seized on the gang’s presence and made it the face of the alleged threat posed by undocumented immigrants.
Mara Salvatrucha — El Salvador
Also known as MS-13, this violent street gang was one that Trump seized on during his first presidency as the threat posed by immigration, much like he’s using Tren de Aragua now. What he failed to mention was that it originated in Los Angeles in the 1980s in communities made up largely of refugees from El Salvador’s civil war and other immigrants, but grew to include many U.S. citizens in its ranks.
In the U.S. the gang is known for brutal violence and street-level drug drug sales.
Deported Salvadorans spread the gang to El Salvador where it quickly grew, corrupting and overwhelming local authorities. The gang and its rivals controlled swaths of territory, forcibly recruiting and extorting residents.
The gang has been severely weakened in El Salvador since President Nayib Bukele launched an all-out assault on it and other street gangs nearly three years ago. His administration has arrested more than 80,000 people during that time for alleged gang ties, though civil rights groups say there has been little due process.
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AP journalist Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.