The Trump administration’s Department of the Treasury announced new sanctions on Tuesday against four different cartel drug lords accused of peddling fentanyl into the United States.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent launched the sanctions against four different individuals associated with La Nueva Familia Michoacana (LNFM), a violent Mexican drug cartel that has smuggled illegal aliens and deadly drugs into the United States and is designated as a foreign terror organization.
“Today’s action underscores our commitment to intensify the pressure on violent drug cartels like LNFM, who continue to traffic deadly fentanyl and other drugs, smuggle illegal aliens over our Southwest border, and attack law enforcement,” Bessent <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0087">charged</a>. “The Trump Administration will continue to use all available tools to target the cartels and other violent organizations that attempt to exploit our communities and harm Americans.”
The sanctions freeze any and all property owned by these four individuals currently present in the United States and require financial institutions to immediately report them to the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Their cartel, the Treasury Department pointed out, traffics people, fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine into the United States and carries out kidnappings and murders in Mexico.
The sanctions specifically target four siblings, including the co-leaders of the cartel, Johnny and Jose Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga. The State Department recently announced cash prizes of $5 million and $3 million, respectively, for information leading to the arrest or conviction of the two cartel leaders. The Treasury also hit two siblings of Johnny and Jose, Ubaldo Hurtado Olascoaga and Adita Hurtado Olascoaga, with sanctions.
“Ubaldo oversees sicarios, or hitmen, for LNFM and has illegally mined and extracted mercury and uranium for the organization,” the Treasury wrote, adding that “Adita has trafficked arms for her brothers from the United States into Mexico to use against rival cartels in Mexico” and has laundered drug proceeds for the foreign terror organization.
These sanctions come after the Treasury announced an earlier round of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-treasury-dept-launches-sanctions-targeting-sinaloa-cartel?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=14&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump%E2%80%99s+Treasury+Dept+Launches+Sanctions+Targeting+Sinaloa+Cartel">sanctions</a> against six people tied to the Sinaloa Cartel, another notorious criminal organization that is now designated as a foreign terror organization.

Trump and Bessent

Trump’s Treasury Sanctions Cartel Drug-Runners Behind Fentanyl Trafficking, Human Smuggling

Crime

Drug Cartels

Illegal Immigration

Immigration

Scott Bessent

U.S.

The Trump administration’s Treasury Department announced today that it is imposing sanctions aimed at wiping out funding for the Sinaloa Cartel, a violent and notorious drug cartel that was recently designated as a foreign terror organization.
“We’ve taken decisive action against the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most notoriously violent criminal and drug trafficking organizations in the world,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an announcement posted to X on Monday. “We leveled sanctions against six individuals and seven entities involved in a money laundering operation, cutting off financing for these evil people.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
National security is economic security. Today, the <a href="https://twitter.com/USTreasury?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USTreasury</a> Department proudly leveled new sanctions against financiers of the criminal Sinaloa drug cartel, which has flooded our borders with fentanyl and senselessly murdered innocent American citizens. This ends under… <a href="https://t.co/b4uLng8RNN">pic.twitter.com/b4uLng8RNN</a>
— Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecScottBessent/status/1906756180619264450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
“The Sinaloa Cartel has invaded our southern border. They have tortured and murdered countless of our citizens, dedicated law enforcement agents like Kiki Camarena and veterans like Nicholas Quets, who was only 31 years old when he was ruthlessly taken from us,” Bessent went on to charge.
Bessent added that the foreign terror organization is responsible for a “significant amount of the fentanyl and illicit drugs brought into the United States,” adding that those drugs “continue to kill innocent Americans and destroy families every single day.”
“Laundered drug money is the lifeblood of the Sinaloa Cartel’s narco-terrorist enterprise, only made possible through trusted financial facilitators like those we have designated today,” the Treasury Secretary also <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0064">noted</a>.
The Treasury Department spotlighted the specific individuals and organizations hit by the sanctions, also explaining that any of their assets held in institutions in the United States are now required to be frozen and reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The sanctions come just after the Trump administration’s State Department named the Sinaloa Cartel a foreign terror organization, <a href="https://www.state.gov/designation-of-international-cartels/#:~:text=Today%2C%20the%20Department%20of%20State,as%20Foreign%20Terrorist%20Organizations%20(FTOs">describing</a> it as “one of the world’s most powerful drug cartels&#8221; and &#8220;one of the largest producers and traffickers of fentanyl and other illicit drugs to the United States.”
“Cartel de Sinaloa has used violence to murder, kidnap, and intimidate civilians, government officials, and journalists,” the State Department added.
Various different agencies in the Trump administration have recently taken action to crack down on the cartels. FBI Director Kash Patel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-extradites-top-ms-13-leader-from-mexico-to-face-american-justice">announced</a> earlier this month that the federal law enforcement agency had extradited a leader of the violent criminal gang MS-13 from Mexico.
The administration has also invoked the Alien Enemies Act to expedite the removal of suspected Tren de Aragua members. Multiple left-wing judges, including one who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-who-upheld-block-of-trumps-deportation-flights-is-a-major-dem-donor">donated</a> five figures to Democrats, have ruled against the use of the act to remove the illegal aliens, prompting the Trump administration to call for the Supreme Court to weigh in.

Bessent and Trump

Trump’s Treasury Dept Launches Sanctions Targeting Sinaloa Cartel

Fentanyl

Mexico

Politics

Treasury

The United States Navy is reportedly planning to send a second destroyer to patrol the waters around the southern border as part of President Donald Trump&#8217;s historic crackdown on illegal immigration and drugs.
U.S. Northern Command deployed the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely to the Gulf of America on March 15, 2025, to work with the U.S. Coast Guard in drug interdiction missions.
A <a href="https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/03/19/navy-plans-deploy-second-destroyer-patrol-waters-off-us-and-mexico-week.html">report</a> from Military.com on Wednesday said that the Navy was deploying a second destroyer to the region to further bolster efforts to secure the border.
The U.S. Coast Guard seemingly confirmed the news this week when it issued a statement that said U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) has &#8220;deployed two U.S. Navy warships to the southern border to support Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Coast Guard operations.&#8221;
&#8220;These U.S. Navy warships will operate in direct support of the Coast Guard and carry Coast Guard law enforcement teams that will enable them to shift to Coast Guard control during interdiction operations,&#8221; the <a href="https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/4124185/coast-guard-achieves-major-milestone-in-drug-interdiction-border-control-operat/">statement</a> read. &#8220;As the Coast Guard hardens and sustains its operational posture, including the arrival of these U.S. Navy warships, it is fully integrated with DHS and the Department of Defense (DoD) through NORTHCOM and U.S. Southern Command.&#8221;
The arrival of destroyers to the region is a significant development in America&#8217;s fight against Mexican drug cartels as destroyers have significantly greater capabilities, are larger, and carry a more extensive and far more lethal array of weapons than cutter ships that the Coast Guard uses.
The news comes as the administration has already deployed more than 10,000 active-duty soldiers to help secure the southern border, which led to the U.S. experiencing the lowest number of border apprehensions of illegal border crossers in recorded history during Trump&#8217;s first full month in office.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pentagon-considers-buffer-zone-on-border-to-boost-illegal-immigration-crack-down">Pentagon Considers Buffer Zone On Border To Boost Illegal Immigration Crack Down</a>

U.S. Navy Sets Destroyers On Standby For Possible Strike On Syria

U.S. Navy Deploys Multiple Warships To Waters Around Southern Border

Gulf of America

Military

U.S. Navy

US Navy

FBI Director Kash Patel announced Tuesday that the federal law enforcement agency had extradited a man from Mexico who is believed to be a “senior leader” of the MS-13 gang, which the Trump administration has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
“The FBI has extradited one of our &#8216;Ten Most Wanted&#8217; from Mexico — one we believe to be a key senior leader of MS-13, Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales,” Patel announced <a href="https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/1902008572088909884">in a post</a> on X. “He was arrested in Mexico and is being transported within the U.S. as we speak, where he will face American justice.”
“This is a major victory both for our law enforcement partners and for a safer America. Thank you to our brave personnel for executing the mission,” Patel said before thanking Mexican officials for their operational support.
The announcement from Patel comes just after the Mexican government <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/ms13-gang-member-arrested-mexico-fbi-most-wanted-2046174">announced</a> his arrest in Veracruz on Monday.
The FBI previously noted that Roman-Bardales should be considered “armed and dangerous” and “has been charged with several offenses for his alleged role in ordering numerous acts of violence against civilians and rival gang members, as well as his alleged role in drug distribution and extortion schemes in the United States and El Salvador.
Roman-Bardales was <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/kash-patel-reveals-major-ms-13-arrest-mexico-2046507">hit</a> with a federal arrest warrant by the Eastern District in New York in 2022 and stands accused of conspiracy to provide and conceal material support and resources to terrorists; narco-terrorism conspiracy; racketeering conspiracy; and alien smuggling conspiracy.
Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, was <a href="https://www.state.gov/designation-of-international-cartels/">designated</a> a foreign terror organization last month by the Trump administration.
“MS-13 actively recruits, organizes, and spreads violence in several countries, primarily in Central America and North America, including El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States,” the State Department noted. “MS-13 has conducted numerous violent attacks, including assassination and the use of IEDs and drones, against El Salvador government officials and facilities.”
The Trump administration said, “MS-13 uses public displays of violence to intimidate civilian populations to obtain and control territory and manipulate the electoral process in El Salvador.”

Kash Patel

FBI Extradites Top MS-13 Leader From Mexico To Face ‘American Justice’

Border

cartel

kash patel

MS-13 Gang

World

White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett argued on Sunday that the administration&#8217;s tariffs against Mexico, Canada, and China were not about a trade war, but a drug war.
Hassett made the remarks during a Sunday interview on ABC News&#8217; &#8220;This Week&#8221; when asked what was driving President Donald Trump&#8217;s decision-making on the matter.
&#8220;What happened was that we launched a drug war, not a trade war, and it was part of a negotiation to get Canada and Mexico to stop shipping fentanyl across our borders,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And as we&#8217;ve watched them make progress on the drug war, then we&#8217;ve relaxed some of the tariffs that we put on them because they&#8217;re making progress. And so, that drug war is something that&#8217;s been going on since really the beginning of the Trump administration.&#8221;
He said that the administration was going to release a study in April highlighting the harm done to the American economy by foreign nations that have placed tariffs on products from the United States.
&#8220;Between now and then, we&#8217;ve got the drug war which we&#8217;re hopefully going to solve by the end of the month,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Hopefully, that we&#8217;ll actually round up, you know, the people in the cartels and stop the flow of fentanyl that&#8217;s killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, and then we&#8217;ll be focused on the reciprocal thing.&#8221;
&#8220;And now on the reciprocal thing, remember that just about every country on Earth charges a much higher tariff than we do,&#8221; he added. &#8220;And so, when we pass an act that says that we&#8217;re going to have the same tariff they charge us, then you&#8217;re covering it as if the only possible outcome is that our tariffs go up. But maybe they decide to go down, right?&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
“We launched a drug war, not a trade war — and it was part of a negotiation to get Canada and Mexico to stop shipping fentanyl across our borders,&#8221; Pres. Trump’s economic adviser Kevin Hassett says of the administration’s tariffs. <a href="https://t.co/vbFR5Md1S9">https://t.co/vbFR5Md1S9</a> <a href="https://t.co/C2qC94yDx2">pic.twitter.com/C2qC94yDx2</a>
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1898733502754881536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2025</a></blockquote>

Key Speakers At Conservative Political Action Conference

White House Official: U.S. Imposing Tariffs As Part Of ‘Drug War,’ Not ‘Trade War’

Economy

Tariffs

President Donald Trump declared that it is time for America to “wage war on the cartels” during his historic speech in front of Congress.
The 47th president detailed his administration’s border security actions and its posture toward the Mexican drug cartels, which Trump designated as foreign terror organizations on his first day in office.
“The cartels are waging war on America and it is time for America to wage war on the cartels,” Trump said during his speech to Congress. “Two weeks ago, I officially designated this gang, along with MS-13 and the bloodthirsty Mexican drug cartels, as foreign terrorist organizations. They are now officially in the same category as ISIS.”
“Countless thousands of these terrorists were welcomed into the U.S. by the Biden administration,” he went on to add. “But now every last one will be rounded up and forcibly removed from our country.”
The surge of criminal illegal aliens resulted in the loss of American life, Trump noted during his speech. “All three savages charged with Jocelyn and Laken’s murders were members of the Venezuelan prison gang … Tren de Aragua,” the president said, referencing the deaths of Jocelyn Nungaray and Laken Riley at the hands of illegal aliens.
Since entering office less than two months ago, the Trump administration has already secured the capture of key cartel leaders. Trump explained that Mexican authorities handed over 29 cartel leaders to the United States in an unprecedented move prompted by the president’s threat of tariffs against America’s neighbor to the south.
Trump’s comments came just after Border Czar Tom Homan joined The Daily Wire and explained that the administration will use the “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tom-homan-tells-daily-wire-trump-will-use-full-might-of-government-to-crush-cartels?topStoryPosition=undefined">full might</a>” of the federal government to crush the cartels.
“We’re not just going to attack them on the southern border, we’re going to attack them across the globe,” Homan told The Daily Wire Backstage Live ahead of Trump’s Tuesday night address to Congress. “We’re going to use the full might of the federal government to take them out.”
One of the first and most important ways to cripple the cartels, Homan explained, is to cut off their funding by securing the southern border and preventing them from smuggling drugs and people into the United States. “If they don’t have money, they don’t have power,” Homan explained. “We’re going to shut them down one piece at a time.”

Trump

Trump: It Is Time For America To ‘Wage War On The Cartels’

Cartels

Donald Trump

Trump Administration

On Tuesday, as the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on Mexican, Canadian, and Chinese imports took effect, leftist Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trade-war-mexico-trump-9cefdded035a0b35e700a7ba0bfc34b4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> Mexico would retaliate with tariffs on U.S. exports, following the lead of Canada and China.
Sheinbaum said she would delineate which products Mexico would target, adding that the U.S. had no reason for imposing tariffs on its largest trading partners.
“There is no motive or reason, nor justification that supports this decision that will affect our people and our nations,” she said. “It’s inconceivable that they don’t think about the damage this is going to cause to United States citizens and businesses with the increase in prices for things produced in our country. Also the damage it will cause by stopping job creation in both countries. No one wins with this decision.”
Trump’s tariffs impose a 25% tax on Mexican and Canadian imports.
On Monday, the White House issued a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/03/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-proceeds-with-tariffs-on-imports-from-canada-and-mexico/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fact sheet</a> regarding the tariffs in which it stated that the Mexican government had cooperated with the vicious drug cartels of Mexico. The fact sheet declared:
<blockquote>
Mexican drug trafficking organizations, the world’s leading fentanyl traffickers, operate unhindered due to an intolerable relationship with the government of Mexico. The government of Mexico has afforded safe havens for the cartels to engage in the manufacturing and transportation of dangerous narcotics, which collectively have led to the overdose deaths of hundreds of thousands of American victims. 
Cartel violence, including armed drones and roadside IEDs, are coming in closer and closer proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border as cartels are more actively targeting one another as well as Mexican military and law enforcement personnel.
This alliance with the Mexican government endangers the national security of the United States, and we must eradicate the influence of these dangerous cartels.
</blockquote>
The fact sheet also noted, “There is also a growing presence of Mexican cartels operating fentanyl and nitazene synthesis labs in Canada. &#8230; Both nations’ failure to arrest traffickers, seize drugs, or coordinate with U.S. law enforcement constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to America’s security—demanding IEEPA action to force accountability and protect American lives.”
Sheinbaum called the fact sheet “offensive, defamatory and without support,” adding, “We collaborate to avoid illegal drug trafficking to the United States, but as we have said on multiple occasions, that country’s government must take responsibility too for the crisis of opioid consumption that has caused so many deaths in the United States.”

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum Briefing Conference

Leftist Mexican President Says She’ll Retaliate Against U.S. Tariffs, Following Canada And China

Canada

China

Claudia Sheinbaum

Executive

The Justice Department gained custody of 29 suspected Mexican drug traffickers, including kingpin Rafael Caro Quintero, on Thursday, who now face either life in prison or execution if convicted on charges of murder, money laundering, and drug trafficking. 
The individuals extradited from Mexico are accused of sending massive amounts of cocaine, meth, fentanyl, and heroin into the United States, as well as murdering American law enforcement officers. One of those sent over is a drug lord who officials say tortured and murdered a Drug Enforcement Administration agent in 1985. 
“As President Trump has made clear, cartels are terrorist groups, and this Department of Justice is devoted to destroying cartels and transnational gangs,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said. “We will prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the law in honor of the brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers — and in some cases, given their lives — to protect innocent people from the scourge of violent cartels. We will not rest until we secure justice for the American people.”
Those extradited face charges of racketeering, drug trafficking, murder, illegal use of firearms, and money laundering and include members of the Sinaloa Cartel, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Cártel del Noreste, La Nueva Familia Michoacana, and Cártel de Golfo (Gulf Cartel), according to the Justice Department. 
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations. The DOJ said that Mexico “elected” to honor the extradition requests as a result of this designation. Mexico officials are <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mexico-drug-lord-rafael-caro-quintero-extradition-ad769ef1f2addd8530f4b8b96d00bb4c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">meeting</a> with the Trump administration to negotiate ahead of the 25% tariffs that Trump has scheduled to go into effect next week. 
“The FBI and our partners will scour the ends of the earth to bring terrorists and cartel members to justice,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The era of harming Americans and walking free is over.”
One of those extradited was drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who officials say murdered and tortured DEA special agent Enrique Camarena and his pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar in 1985. This was done in retaliation after American officials crackdown on his drug operation, which reportedly trafficked 10,000 tons of marijuana into the United States. In 2013, a judge in Mexico overturned Quintero&#8217;s murder conviction, releasing him from prison. 
Another one of the defendants is Martin Sotelo, who was wanted for his alleged participation in the 2022 murder of North Carolina Deputy Sheriff Ned Byrd.
“By prosecuting these defendants to the maximum extent allowable under the law, we honor the memory of Special Agent Camarena, Deputy Sheriff Byrd, and other victims who are far too numerous, as well as decades of hard work in the trenches by our law enforcement partners,” Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said.

Rafael Caro-Quintero

Notorious Mexican Drug Lord, 28 Others Extradited To U.S. For ‘Maximum’ Prosecution

Department of Justice

Drug Enforcement Agency

Terrorists

An illegal alien captured at Colony Ridge, the Texas development that’s systematically attracted illegal aliens, is believed to be connected to a violent Mexican drug cartel, The Daily Wire has learned.
A spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) told The Daily Wire that at least one of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/3-illegal-aliens-arrested-after-344-pounds-of-meth-found-in-colony-ridge">three illegal aliens</a> caught and deported earlier this month in a traffic stop is believed to have ties to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, a violent criminal organization that traffics drugs and people across the southern border and into the United States.
The entity is <a href="https://www.state.gov/designation-of-international-cartels/">now classified</a> as a Foreign Terror Organization due to an executive order from President Donald Trump.
The bust of those three illegal aliens resulted in the seizure of 344 pounds of meth that one of the illegal aliens, Cruz Isidro Sandoval, was keeping in a trailer on his Colony Ridge property just north of Houston. The DEA spokeswoman did not specify which of the three illegal aliens is suspected to be tied to the cartel.
The revelation further confirms The Daily Wire&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inside-colony-ridge-the-fastest-growing-development-in-the-u-s-is-a-magnet-for-illegal-immigrants">reporting</a> that Colony Ridge has become a magnet for illegal aliens, including those operating on behalf of the cartels. It also confirms the suspicion of Todd Bensman, Senior National Security Fellow for the Center for Immigration Studies. When asked if it would be possible for an illegal alien to obtain and traffic nearly 350 pounds of meth without ties to the cartels, Bensman responded with a simple and resounding “nope.”
Known in Mexico as Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), the Department of Justice has <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-treasury-and-state-departments-announce-coordinated-enforcement-efforts-against">referred</a> to the criminal entity as “one of the most powerful cartels in Mexico” and “one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal organizations in the world.”
The CJNG, the State Department <a href="https://www.state.gov/designation-of-international-cartels/">says</a>, has launched “attacks on Mexican military and police with military grade weaponry, the use of drones to drop explosives on Mexican law enforcement, and assassinations or attempted assassinations of Mexican officials.
The cartel profits off a number of different criminal enterprises, including the trafficking of drugs like meth, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl into the United States. The arrest of the three illegal aliens came just before the Department of Homeland Security and the Texas Department of Public Safety launched a joint operation targeting the illegal aliens inside the Colony Ridge development.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement <a href="https://x.com/ICEgov/status/1894485344923652152">reported</a> that 118 illegal aliens had been captured in Monday’s operation, noting that Colony Ridge is “known for its cartel activity and illegal alien population.”
“Charges and convictions of those arrested include criminal sexual conduct, homicide, theft, negligent manslaughter, child sexual abuse, crimes of moral turpitude, weapons offenses and drug offenses,” ICE went on to note.
Among those captured was an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/previously-deported-ms-13-member-leads-authorities-on-manhunt-in-colony-ridge">MS-13 member</a> and El Salvadoran national who had been deported on seven different occasions. The illegal alien is believed to have fatally stabbed a man before leading authorities on a seven-hour manhunt that resulted in his arrest.
Authorities also arrested 39-year-old Florentin Chevez-Luna, another El Salvadoran national who had been deported three times. An ICE spokesman told The Daily Wire that he “was arrested by ICE and Texas DPS pursuant to a criminal arrest warrant for alleged repeated sexual abuse of a minor over an eight-year period from November 2008 to November 2016.”

Liberty County Sheriff’s Office

EXCLUSIVE: Illegal Alien Captured At Colony Ridge Believed To Be Tied To Mexican Drug Cartel

Colony Ridge

deportation

Two people, including a Texas rancher, were killed when their truck drove over an improvised explosive device (IED) in Mexico last week, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller <a href="https://texasagriculture.gov/News-Events/Article/10306/STATEMENT-FROM-TEXAS-AGRICULTURE-COMMISSIONER-SID-MILLER-ON-CARTEL-VIOLENCE-NEA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Tuesday. Authorities suspect the IED was planted by a cartel member.
Antonio Céspedes Saldierna — a 74-year-old man from Brownsville, Texas — was killed in the explosion, along with Horacio Lopez Peña, KRGV <a href="https://www.krgv.com/news/brownsville-man-speaks-out-after-father-killed-in-ied-blast-in-tamaulipas/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Peña&#8217;s wife, Ninfa Griselda Ortega, was also wounded in the blast. Céspedes, who worked on both sides of the border, was driving on his ranch in Tamaulipas, Mexico — in the Santa Rita area of San Fernando — when he was killed, according to his son, Ramiro.
In a statement, Miller urged Texans who travel along the southern border to &#8220;exercise extreme caution,&#8221; adding, &#8220;This shocking act of violence highlights the growing threat posed by cartel activity along our southern border.&#8221; Céspedes&#8217; son, Ramiro, a United States Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, said his father was killed in a &#8220;terrorist attack.&#8221;
&#8220;I consider this a terrorist attack because if I went to war to fight terrorists, and I’m seeing the same thing here to me – my personal opinion – it is a terrorist attack,” said Ramiro.
The Tamaulipas government has warned about IEDs being placed on rural roads. Cartels often plant the IEDs to defend their territory from rival cartel members, according to the Tamaulipas police. The Texas Agriculture Commissioner told Texans to &#8220;avoid dirt roads and remote areas, refrain from touching unfamiliar objects that could be explosive devices, limit travel to daylight hours, stay on main roads, and avoid cartel-controlled regions.&#8221;
&#8220;Our agriculture family is the backbone of Texas, and we must do everything we can to protect it,&#8221; he added.
Since being sworn into office last month, President Donald Trump has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-formally-designates-8-cartels-gangs-as-terrorist-organizations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">designated</a> eight cartels as terrorist organizations, including some of Mexico&#8217;s most powerful cartels: Cartel de Sinaloa, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, Carteles Unidos, Cartel del Noreste, Cartel del Golfo, and La Nueva Familia Michoacana.

U.S./Mexico border

Texas Rancher Killed By IED In Mexico; Authorities Suspect Cartel Involvement

Explosion

Murder

Texas

President Donald Trump promised on Saturday that cartel members in the United States would be “hunted down” and removed from the country.
Trump spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference and referred to cartel members as “savage monsters” that his government will pursue and expel from the United States.
“Their members and leaders in the United States will be hunted down – I’m talking about MS-13, they’re hunting them down. We removed tens of thousands MS-13, Tren de Aragua – rooted out, arrested, and expelled from our soil like the savage monsters that they are,” Trump said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: MS-13 and Tren de Aragua members in the United States &quot;will be hunted down&#8230; rooted out, arrested and expelled from our soil like the savage monsters that they are.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/SXXvJyJV1x">pic.twitter.com/SXXvJyJV1x</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1893396287816421545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Criminal gangs from south of the U.S. border have gained increased influence in the United States in recent years. Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua&#8217;s <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-report-warns-bloodthirsty-venezuelan-gangs-footprint-remain-us-for-decades">rise</a> in the United States coincided with an unprecedented illegal immigration crisis that surged into the U.S. during the Biden administration.
On Thursday, the Department of State designated eight international criminal gangs, including MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists.
“The intent of designating these cartels and transnational organizations as terrorists is to protect our nation, the American people, and our hemisphere. That means stopping the campaigns of violence and terror by these vicious groups both in the United States and internationally. These designations provide law enforcement additional tools to stop these groups,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a <a href="https://www.state.gov/terrorist-designations-of-international-cartels/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.
<a class="c-link" href="http://dailywire.com/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://dailywire.com/subscribe" data-sk="tooltip_parent">PRESIDENTS’ DAY SALE! 40% Off DailyWire+ Annual Memberships With Code DW40</a>
The designation fulfilled a longtime goal of Trump&#8217;s, who began to pursue terrorist designations against cartels during his first administration.
In addition to MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, the other cartels listed under the State Department designation are the Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Cartel of the Northeast, La Nueva Familia Michoacana, Gulf Cartel, and Cárteles Unidos.
The designations sprang from a January order by President Trump to list such organizations as terror groups.
“The Cartels’ activities threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere,” the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/designating-cartels-and-other-organizations-as-foreign-terrorist-organizations-and-specially-designated-global-terrorists/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">order</a> says. “Their activities, proximity to, and incursions into the physical territory of the United States pose an unacceptable national security risk to the United States.”

President Donald Trump

Trump At CPAC: Cartel Members Will Be ‘Hunted Down’ Like ‘The Savage Monsters That They Are’

Trump At CPAC: Cartel Members Will Be 'Hunted Down’ Like ‘The Savage Monsters That They Are'

CPAC

Tren De Aragua

The U.S. State Department announced on Wednesday that it has formally designated several drug cartels and gangs as official Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT) which expands the administration&#8217;s ability to combat the organizations.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the designation — which was made in consultation with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — came after a sufficient factual basis was established under the Immigration and Nationality Act to classify the entities as FTOs.
The FTO and SDGT designations were applied to the following criminal enterprises: Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha, Cartel de Sinaloa, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, Carteles Unidos, Cartel del Noreste, Cartel del Golfo, and La Nueva Familia Michoacana.
FTOs are designated by the State Department under the Immigration and Nationality Act while SDGTs are designated by the Treasury Department under Executive Order 13224.
FTOs focus on organizations and there are criminal penalties for being involved with the organization. SDGTs on the other hand focus on the terrorist organizations, individuals, and their financial backers. SDGTs result in sanctions and asset seizures.
The designations come after news broke this week that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is flying MQ-9 Reaper drones over Mexico as part of Trump’s efforts to revamp the war against transnational drug cartels.
The unarmed drones are currently only conducting spy missions against the cartels. The CIA can arm the drones and use them against foreign enemies, which it has often done when fighting Islamic terrorists in the Middle East and Africa.
The designations of the cartels as terrorist organizations could lay the groundwork for using the drones to kill top cartel leaders and destroy manufacturing sites.
The CIA said in a statement that “countering drug cartels in Mexico and regionally is a priority for CIA as a part of the Trump Administration’s broader efforts to end the grave threat from narco-trafficking. Director [John] Ratcliffe is determined to put CIA’s unique expertise to work against this multifaceted challenge.”
Mexican officials, powerless to counter the vastly larger and more powerful U.S. government, have downplayed the CIA drones flying over Mexico, claiming that they do “not violate national airspace,” according to Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum did not resist the notion of drones flying over Mexican airspace to fight the cartels.
“The important thing here, I think, in the declaration, which is what we have always proposed, is that they share information with the Government of Mexico,” she said.
Trump’s top goals for the agency revolve around trade wars, undermining communist China, and destroying the drug cartels.
The president was asked the day after he was sworn into office if he would consider “sending U.S. special forces into Mexico” to take out the cartels.
“Could happen,” Trump said with a large grin on his face. “Stranger things have happened.”

MEXICO-US-DRUGS-MORMON-ATTACK-LOPEZ OBRADOR-SECURITY

Trump Admin Formally Designates 8 Cartels, Gangs As Terrorist Organizations

terrorist

Menu