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

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

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.

List of Terrorist Designations

Gangs

Tren de Aragua (TdA)

Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)

Mexican Cartels

Sinaloa Cartel (CDS)

Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación  (CJNG)

Cartel de Noreste (CDN)

La Familia Michoacána (LFM)

Carteles Unidos (CU)

Gulf Cartel (CDG)*

*Initially, the New York Times reported CDG as the Colombian Clan del Golfo incorrectly. On Wednesday night, two US officials said the acronym CDG, which appeared on the list of entities to be designated that is circulating within the U.S. government, referred to Clan del Golfo, or Gulf Clan, a group in Colombia known for supplying cocaine and, more recently, smuggling migrants.

But on Thursday, after this story was posted by New York Times, one of those officials and a State Department official said the C.D.G. on the list stands for the Gulf Cartel of Mexico.

Sources NY Times, Ioan Grillo