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EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — The U.S. has added a new weapon to its arsenal against transnational criminal organizations.
As promised by President Donald Trump, the U.S. last Thursday designated six Mexican drug cartels and two gangs from Central and South America as foreign terrorist organizations:
- Sinaloa cartel
- Jalisco New Generation Cartel
- Gulf cartel
- Northeast cartel
- La Nueva Familia Michoacana
- United Cartels
- Tren de Aragua, of Venezuela
- Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), of El Salvador
The goal is to stop these groups from flooding the U.S. with drugs, particularly fentanyl, and curbing the violence that has left countless dead in Latin America.
In this week’s episode of Border Report Live, host Daniel Marin and Border Report correspondents Julian Resendiz, Salvador Rivera and Sandra Sanchez examine what the foreign terrorist organization designation means.
A key component of the designation is that it targets the business side of the operation, allowing the U.S. to seize assets and identify businesses that offer support on both sides of the border.
Border security experts tell Border Report what is least likely to happen is U.S. troops carrying out military operations on Mexican soil.
The U.S. and Mexico have been putting pressure on cartels since Trump took office, disrupting drug and migrant smuggling routes. Both countries sent troops to the border, and the U.S. has even sent special forces into Mexico to train Mexican marines.
Also, at the request of Mexico, the U.S. has provided surveillance drone flights.
However, cartel activity is still present along the border.
On a ride-long with Border Patrol officials this week, Border Report visited a spot where thousands of colorful wristbands litter the ground. The wristbands, much like the ones you’d get at a carnival or nightclub, are used by smugglers to group migrants by nationality, the amount of money they’ve paid, or how many times they’ve attempted to cross, etc.
Still, during the hourslong tour of the border, there were no migrant encounters, further proof, agents say, that the cartels are being more stealthy and operating on a smaller scale.
Authorities in San Diego have also seen smugglers take a different approach at the border. In recent weeks, there has been an uptick in maritime smuggling events. Since Jan. 19, the U.S. Coast Guard and border agents intercepted at least six boats carrying migrants off the coast of the San Diego region.
In January, a suspected smuggling boat capsized off the coast of Ocean Beach sending nearly three migrants into the water. One woman drowned.
This week, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller issued a warning against cartels after an improvised explosive device killed a rancher in Mexico.
Antonio Céspedes Saldierna, 74, and another man were killed by the IED on a dirt road in San Fernando, Mexico, about 90 miles south of the border. The rancher’s wife was injured.
