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,” the Associated Press reports. The groups 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.
The Associated Press piece goes into detail about each of the eight Latin American drug cartels now labeled as foreign terrorist organizations: 1) 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. 2) The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, 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. 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. 3 and 4) 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. 5 and 6) La Nueva Familia Michoacana and United Cartels are local organized crime groups, operating in west-central Mexico, that produce synthetic drugs, but they are a concern to the U.S. because U.S. inspectors checking for pests on avocados have been threatened by these groups, which control production and, to an extent, the price of avocados through extortion and threats to growers. 7) Tren de Aragua is an organized crime group that emerged from a prison in central Venezuela more than a decade ago. 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. 8) Mara Salvatrucha, also known as M-13, is a violent street gang that 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.
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