WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Three U.S. Aegis guided-missile destroyers will arrive off the coast of Venezuela in the next 36 hours as part of an effort to address threats from Latin American drug cartels, two sources briefed on the matter said on Monday.
President Donald Trump has wanted to use the military to go after Latin American drug gangs that have been designated as global terrorist organizations.
The sources said the ships are the USS Gravely, USS Jason Dunham, and the USS Sampson.
A separate U.S. official told Reuters that in total, about 4,000 sailors and Marines are expected to be committed to the Trump administration&#8217;s efforts in the southern Caribbean region.
That U.S. official, who was speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the additional commitment of military assets in the broader region would include several P-8 spy planes, warships, and at least one attack submarine.
The official said the process would be ongoing for several months and the plan was for them to operate in international airspace and international waters.
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The naval assets can be used to not just carry out intelligence and surveillance operations, but also as a launching pad for targeted strikes if a decision is made, the official added.
Venezuela&#8217;s communications ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Without referring to the warships, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday in an address that Venezuela will &#8220;defend our seas, our skies and our lands.&#8221; He alluded to what he called &#8220;the outlandish, bizarre threat of a declining empire.&#8221;
Trump has made cracking down on drug cartels a central goal of his administration as part of a wider effort to limit migration and secure the U.S. southern border.
The Trump administration in recent months has already deployed at least two warships to help in border security efforts and drug trafficking.
The Trump administration designated Mexico&#8217;s Sinaloa Cartel and other drug gangs, as well as Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua, as global terrorist organizations in February, as it stepped up immigration enforcement against alleged gang members.
The U.S. military has already been increasing its airborne surveillance of Mexican drug cartels to collect intelligence to determine how to best counter their activities.
(Reporting By Steve Holland and Idrees Ali; additional reporting by Vivian Sequera and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Chris Reese and Christian Schmollinger)

U.S. Navy Warship

U.S. Deploys Warships Near Venezuela To Combat Drug Threats, Sources Say

Donald Trump

Drug Cartels

Global Politics

U.S. Navy

Venezuela

World

Margarito “Jay” Flores Jr., a former Chicago kingpin who was the Sinaloa Cartel&#8217;s largest distributor in the United States under the notorious El Chapo, said he believes President Trump is doing a “great job” going after the Mexican drug cartels.
Flores Jr., whose face was blurred in the video for his own safety after <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/07/03/chapo-margarito-flores-pedro-flores-saul-rodriguez-sinaloa-cartel">cooperating with U.S. authorities</a> to help take down El Chapo, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TxI3qZxBTk">spoke</a> on &#8220;Borderland: Narcosis with Vincent &#8216;Rocco&#8217; Vargas.&#8221;
“I believe that the Trump administration is doing a great job. &#8230; it’s kind of winding down a little bit in the media, but I believe that government that’s still at full force going after these drug cartels,” Flores Jr. stated. “I don’t believe that the Chapo faction or the Mayo Zambada faction (of the Sinaloa Cartel) will last another year. &#8230; Especially with some of the recent arrests,” Flores Jr. stated.
Ismael Mayo Zambada was one of the co-founders of the Sinaloa Cartel, which has an estimated 5000-20,000 members across the world. The faction in his name is opposed by the faction known as Los Chapitos, which is led by the sons of El Chapo. When El Chapo ran the cartel, they ran a sophisticated smuggling operation using narco-submarines, airplanes, and drones, which are likely still being utilized.
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“To the American public, some of these arrests that are happening might not be significant because they don’t have a name,” Flores Jr. theorized. “All these arrests are meaning something, and I do believe that it’s the pressure the United States has, making a difference and it’s going to continue making a difference.”
Earlier this month, President Trump issued a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-greenlights-military-force-to-take-down-latin-american-drug-cartels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">directive</a> for the Pentagon to use the military for operations against Latin American drug cartels, as Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us-military-deploying-forces-southern-caribbean-against-drug-groups-2025-08-14/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported.</a>
Sources briefed on the move told Reuters that after Trump’s order, the Defense Department has begun deploying U.S. troops to address “threats to U.S. national security from specially designated narco-terrorist organizations in the region.” Last week, Trump quietly signed an order to deploy U.S. troops to conduct anti-cartel operations in foreign countries, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/us/trump-military-drug-cartels.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytimesworld" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to The New York Times.
“I could imagine that even today right now you have politicians calling the government saying, ‘Hey, is there a deal there for me?’” Flores Jr. quipped.
“I believe it’s also gonna happen with CJNG [Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, another major drug cartel]. It’s just gonna take a little more time,” he said. “I believe that if the government continues to put this kind of pressure on CJNG, I don’t see it lasting two years.”
“I believe that the Trump administration continues that, by the time the president’s term is over, the landscape of Mexico and the drug cartels is going to look very, very different,” he surmised. “The United States is targeting, they’re making so much (sic) arrests, think about everything that’s happened in the last year: More has happened in the last year than I believe in the last 25 years in terms of United States prosecutions and arrests.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Margarito “Jay” Flores Jr., who was El Chapo’s largest distributor for the Sinaloa Cartel in the U.S., says that President Trump is doing a “great job” going after the cartels:
“More has happened in the last year than in the last 25 years in terms of prosecutions and arrests”… <a href="https://t.co/mC2POoaNsK">pic.twitter.com/mC2POoaNsK</a>
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1957114922220892207?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

U.S. President Trump And Russian  President Putin Meet On War In Ukraine At U.S. Air Base In Alaska

Former Chicago Kingpin: Trump Doing ‘Great Job’ Targeting Mexican Drug Cartels

Former Major Drug Cartel Figure: Trump Doing 'Great Job' Targeting Cartels

Sinaloa Cartel

U.S. air and naval forces are set to deploy to the Southern Caribbean Sea following President Donald Trump&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-greenlights-military-force-to-take-down-latin-american-drug-cartels">directive</a> for the Pentagon to use the military for operations against Latin American drug cartels, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us-military-deploying-forces-southern-caribbean-against-drug-groups-2025-08-14/">reported</a> on Thursday.
Sources briefed on the move told Reuters that after Trump&#8217;s order, the Defense Department has begun deploying U.S. troops to address &#8220;threats to U.S. national security from specially designated narco-terrorist organizations in the region.&#8221; Last week, Trump quietly signed an order to deploy U.S. troops to conduct anti-cartel operations in foreign countries, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/us/trump-military-drug-cartels.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytimesworld">according</a> to The New York Times.
It remains unknown which specific cartels the president is targeting in his directive. After Trump was sworn into office, the United States designated seven drug cartels and two international criminal gangs as foreign terrorist organizations. Most of those cartels primarily operate in Mexico, but the reported deployment of troops to the South Caribbean Sea suggests that the operation will focus more on Central and South America.
Venezuela, whose northern coastline sits on the South Caribbean Sea, has been a recent subject of the Trump administration&#8217;s scrutiny. Shortly after the president took office, the State Department designated the Venezuelan international criminal gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA), as a foreign terrorist organization, and most recently added the Venezuelan Cartel de los Soles to its terrorist organization list.
Trump has also ramped up pressure on Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-hikes-bounty-on-venezuelas-maduro-to-50m">raising</a> the bounty on him to $50 million and pointing to his ties to transnational gangs and drug cartels. Attorney General Pam Bondi also accused Maduro of using the powerful Mexican drug cartel, Sinaloa, &#8220;to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country.&#8221;
&#8220;To date, the DEA has seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates with nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself,” Bondi said earlier this month.
After Trump greenlit military operations against drug cartels, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mexican-president-says-u-s-military-will-not-fight-drug-cartels-on-its-soil">said</a> that U.S. troops would not be entering her country to fight cartels. Sheinbaum said last week that U.S. officials gave her a heads-up that Trump&#8217;s directive &#8220;was coming,&#8221; adding that an American troop deployment to Mexico was &#8220;absolutely ruled out.&#8221;
&#8220;It is not part of any agreement, far from it. When it has been brought up, we have always said no,&#8221; Sheinbaum said.
Trump has already been using the military along the U.S.-Mexico border to help clamp down on illegal immigration and drug trafficking. The U.S. military has also increased its aerial surveillance of Mexican drug cartels, collecting intelligence on the traffickers responsible for shipping deadly drugs, such as fentanyl, into the United States.

U.S. Navy Helicopter

U.S. Deploys Forces To Take On Latin American Drug Cartels In The Southern Caribbean

U.S. Deploys Forces To Southern Caribbean To Take On Latin American Drug Cartels

Mexico

Trump Administration

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Military

A class of synthetic opioids called nitazenes, made in secret Chinese laboratories and 43 times more deadly than fentanyl, is now killing young Americans, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
After two young Texas men died this year from ingesting pills laced with nitazenes, their mothers have launched a campaign to get the U.S. government to focus more on the problem.
“Lucci Reyes-McCallister, 22, died January 26 near Houston, Texas, after taking a pill labeled as Xanax that was actually laced with N-Pyrrolidino Protonitazene, an emerging form of nitazene. &#8230; Hunter Clement, 21. died on April 10 after taking a nitazene-laced pill branded to look like a Percocet,” the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/08/11/us-news/little-known-synthetic-opioid-nitazene-is-up-to-43-times-more-deadly-than-fentanyl-resistant-to-narcan-and-killing-young-americans/">reported</a>.
“Sometimes I get mad because I couldn’t save my own son, but I do want to save other people, even if it’s just one person in honor of him,” Hunter Clement’s mother, Ruthi, told The Post.
Former acting DEA administrator Derek Maltz said the deaths were part of China’s “ongoing attack against America &#8230; As America is just now really starting to talk about fentanyl, we have now seen all these other substances that are popping up everywhere, and they’re coming out of these labs in China.”
In 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration <a href="https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/NDTA_2024.pdf">reported</a> on the “dangerous shift from plant-based drugs to synthetic drugs,” adding:
This shift has resulted in the most dangerous and deadly drug crisis the United States has ever faced. These synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl and methamphetamine, are responsible for nearly all of the fatal drug poisonings in our nation.
“The Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels are at the heart of this crisis,” continued. “These two Cartels are global criminal enterprises that have developed global supply chain networks. They rely on chemical companies and pill press companies in China to supply the precursor chemicals and pill presses needed to manufacture the drugs. They operate clandestine labs in Mexico where they manufacture these drugs, and then utilize their vast distribution networks to transport the drugs into the United States.”
“Nitazenes are sold by China-based chemical suppliers through online marketplaces, the Mexican cartels could easily use their existing relationships with those suppliers to obtain nitazenes,” the report stated.
Nitazene analogues were connected to at least five deaths in Philadelphia, “and a dozen more deaths may be attributed to the deadly drugs,” The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/drug-40-times-stronger-than-fentanyl-plagues-philadelphia">reported</a> in April 2024. “The health department suspects that a nitazene analogue known as N-desethyl isotonitazene was present in 12 overdose deaths in Philadelphia between November and December 2022,” the Philadelphia Inquirer <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/health/opioid-addiction/nitazenes-philadelphia-drug-overdoses-opioids-20240409.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.inquirer.com/health/opioid-addiction/nitazenes-philadelphia-drug-overdoses-opioids-20240409.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1712761220662000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0RLaCGzkDdLL2Bhk8u9NaE">reported</a>. Two other nitazene analogues were identified in an overdose victim who died in June 2023.”
Although the drug naloxone can be used to reverse the effects of fentanyl,  the normal dose of naloxone may not be enough to combat the effects of nitazenes.
“Customs <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/frontline/buyer-beware-bad-actors-exploit-de-minimis-shipments">officers at JFK are seeing the drug</a> coming through the airport ‘at least a few times a week in quantities ranging from just a few grams to upwards of a pound or more,’ Andrew Renna, Assistant Port Director for Cargo Operations at the airport, said in May,” The Post noted.

Alex Krotulski, 32, associate director and forensic toxicologis

Chinese-Made Opioid Deadlier Than Fentanyl Now Killing Young Americans

Mothers Whose Sons Died From Opioid Far More Lethal Than Fentanyl Alerting Others Of Lurking Menace

China

Fentanyl

Nitazenes

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded on Friday after a report from The New York Times stated that President Donald Trump had quietly signed an order to use military force against drug cartels in foreign countries.
Sheinbaum, who previously rejected an offer from Trump for the U.S. military to help fight the drug cartels, said on Friday, “The United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military.&#8221; The Mexican president added that U.S. officials had given her a heads-up that Trump&#8217;s directive &#8220;was coming,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/world/americas/mexico-trump-military-cartels.html">The New York Times</a>.
&#8220;We cooperate, we collaborate, but there is not going to be an invasion,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;That is ruled out, absolutely ruled out,” she said. “It is not part of any agreement, far from it. When it has been brought up, we have always said no.”
Sheinbaum said that she was assured by the United States that Trump&#8217;s order would not include sending troops into Mexico. The directive reportedly singles out Latin American drug cartels that are designated as foreign terrorist organizations, but it was not immediately clear which specific cartels or transnational gangs the Trump administration would pursue under the new directive.
Mexico has been overrun by numerous violent drug cartels for decades, and most of the drug cartels listed by the United States as terrorist organizations primarily operate in Mexico. Two transnational criminal gangs, Tren de Aragua (TdA) and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), which have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations, have cells in Central America, according to the State Department. The Trump administration also recently designated the Venezuelan Cartel de los Soles as a terrorist organization.
After pressure from Trump earlier this year, Sheibaum reportedly deployed hundreds of troops to fight the Sinaloa Cartel — one of Mexico&#8217;s most powerful — with the group suffering significant losses. U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson <a href="https://x.com/USAmbMex/status/1951085207123272145">said</a> last month that U.S. fentanyl seizures were down and Mexico fentanyl seizures were on the rise &#8220;thanks to increased collaboration&#8221; between the two countries.
&#8220;Under [President Trump&#8217;s] and President [Sheinbaum&#8217;s] leadership, cartels are going bankrupt and our countries are safer because of it,&#8221; Johnson added.
Trump has used tariffs as a negotiating tool to pressure Mexico into helping the United States secure the border and crack down on illegal immigration and drug trafficking. The president has also deployed U.S. troops and drones to patrol the southern border. Trump&#8217;s actions have led to the <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/most-secure-border-history-cbp-reports-major-enforcement-wins-june#:~:text=Border%20Enforcement%20at%20Historic%20Levels,27%2C766%20released%20in%20June%202024">lowest level</a> of illegal border crossings ever recorded by Customs and Border Protection.

Claudia Sheinbaum

Mexican President Says U.S. Military Will Not Fight Drug Cartels On Its Soil

Military

Politics

As reports surfaced that President Donald Trump has issued a directive to the Pentagon to target Latin American drug cartels, it is instructive to note the frightening capabilities of weaponry these criminal groups are reported to employ in order to intimidate governments and possibly threaten Americans.
The incalculable damage done to the American populace from the drugs transported across the border has been evident for years. “The Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations seized a total of 541,000 pounds of illicit drug substances along the southern border, both at and between POEs (points of entry) in Fiscal Year 2023, “ the National Immigration Forum <a href="https://immigrationforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/llicit-Fentanyl-and-Drug-Smuggling-at-the-U.S.-Mexico-Border.pdf">reported</a>.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-greenlights-military-force-to-take-down-latin-american-drug-cartels">Trump Greenlights Military Force To Take Down Latin American Drug Cartels</a>
On August 1, the Department of Justice announced that six men had been sentenced to federal prison terms for their roles in purchasing high-caliber firearms in the United States for resale to Mexican drug cartels. “The trafficked firearms included high-caliber, armor-piercing, and anti-material weapons. For example, approximately 11 of the firearms trafficked by this organization included Barrett .50 caliber rifles, which can expel a very accurate, heavy, and fast-moving projectile that defeats all individually worn body armor, can penetrate and disable vehicles, aircraft, boats, and can even defeat some types of protection provided by armored vehicles,” the DOJ <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/six-deland-men-sentenced-trafficking-military-grade-firearms-mexican-drug-cartels">noted</a>. “The organization also trafficked approximately 16 FN M249S rifles, which are sold in the United States as a semi-automatic weapon but are easily converted into a machine gun.”
The cartels <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2024/06/29/mexican-cartels-increased-firepower-us-weapons/74226110007/">reportedly possess</a> FGM 148 Javelin infrared-guided missile launchers. “Javelin automatically guides itself to the target after launch, allowing the gunner to take cover and avoid counterfire. Soldiers or Marines can reposition immediately after firing, or reload to engage another threat,”  Lockheed Martin <a href="https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/javelin.html">explains</a>.
“Steven Willoughby, deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security’s counter-drone program, this week told a Senate panel that more than 300 Mexican drones typically come within 500 meters of the U.S. border each day,” NewsNation reported in late <a href="https://www.newsnationnow.com/cuomo-show/drone-creep-mexico-border/">July</a>.
In 2023, The Pacific Council Magazine <a href="https://www.pacificcouncil.online/us-mexico-double-fix-blog/post-three">reported</a>:
<blockquote>
The flood of .50-caliber rifles and assault weapons from the U.S. has enabled drug cartels to <a href="https://www.thetrace.org/newsletter/american-made-50-caliber-rifles-help-fuel-mexican-cartel-violence/">outgun</a> Mexico’s security forces and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/mexico-losing-control/mexico-drug-cartels-sniper-rifles-us-gun-policy/">expand their influence and activities</a>. That is because these weapons have characteristics and capabilities that make them particularly lethal:  The bullets fired by .50-caliber rifles are powerful enough to punch through <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mexico-arms-barrett-idAFKBN2F7151">concrete walls, bulletproof vests, and armored vehicles such as tanks</a>. In 2016, cartel members used a .50-caliber rifle to <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/8x33w4/cartel-gunmen-shot-down-a-mexican-police-helicopter">down</a> a Mexican state police helicopter, killing the pilot and four others. 
</blockquote>
There have been <a href="https://stories.theconversation.com/mexican-drug-cartels-use-hundreds-of-thousands-of-guns-bought-from-licensed-us-gun-shops-fueling-violence-in-mexico-drugs-in-the-u-s-and-migration-at-the-border/index.html">reports</a> as far back as 2015 that say the cartels have used rocket-powered grenades.

Army Holds Live-Fire Training Exercise With Javelin Missiles

Trump Wants Pentagon To Target Cartels. The Weapons They Possess Are Sophisticated.

Executive

weapons

President Donald Trump quietly signed a directive ordering the Pentagon to begin using military force against Latin American drug cartels that the administration has labeled as terrorist organizations, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/us/trump-military-drug-cartels.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytimesworld">reported</a> Friday morning.
The order includes an official basis for the United States military to conduct anti-cartel operations in foreign countries, and military officials have already begun drafting plans for going after certain groups, the Times reported, citing &#8220;people familiar with the conversations.&#8221; It was not immediately clear which specific gangs or drug cartels Trump&#8217;s new directive greenlights military operations against.
Under Trump, the United States has <a href="https://www.state.gov/designation-of-international-cartels">designated</a> seven drug cartels and two international criminal gangs as foreign terrorist organizations: Tren de Aragua (TdA), Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Cártel de Sinaloa, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Cártel del Noreste (CDN), La Nueva Familia Michoacana (LNFM), Cártel de Golfo (CDG), and Cárteles Unidos (CU). The Trump administration recently added the Venezuelan Cartel de los Soles to its list, saying that it is operated by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking government officials, according to the Times. On Thursday, the United States upped the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-hikes-bounty-on-venezuelas-maduro-to-50m">bounty</a> on Maduro to $50 million, pointing to his ties to transnational gangs and drug cartels.
&#8220;Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations like TDA, Sinaloa, and Cartel of the Suns to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country. To date, the DEA has seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates with nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself,&#8221; said Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Most of the cartels designated by the Trump administration as terrorist organizations operate in Mexico, while TdA&#8217;s roots are in Venezuela, and MS-13 originated in Los Angeles as a Salvadoran street gang. Both TdA and MS-13 also have cells operating in Central America, according to the State Department.
Trump&#8217;s order is among the most significant steps he has taken to fulfill his promise to &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCGjPpNG4xA">wage war</a>&#8221; on cartels that have trafficked fentanyl and other drugs into the United States, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans. In May, President Trump said he offered Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum a deal that would send U.S. troops into Mexico to fight drug cartels.
&#8220;They are horrible people that have been killing people left and right. They&#8217;ve made a fortune on selling drugs and destroying our people,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000010147246/trump-offers-us-military-to-fight-mexican-cartels.html">told</a> reporters aboard Air Force One. &#8220;If Mexico wanted help with the cartels, we would be honored to go in and do it.&#8221;
Sheinbaum <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/sheinbaum-says-she-rejected-trumps-offer-send-troops-mexico-2025-05-03/">rejected</a> Trump&#8217;s proposal, saying, &#8220;Sovereignty is not for sale. Sovereignty is loved and defended.&#8221;
&#8220;We will never accept the presence of the United States military in our territory,&#8221; she added.

Trump Greenlights Military Force To Take Down Latin American Drug Cartels

Central America

MS-13

Tren De Aragua

The Trump administration’s Department of the Treasury on Wednesday announced sanctions on leaders of a ruthless Mexican drug cartel in a move that the federal agency says will hinder the organization’s drug trafficking operations.
The sanctions targeted five key figures of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), a vicious criminal enterprise that produces illicit drugs and traffics them into the United States.
“CJNG’s reign of terror across Mexico and its trafficking of fentanyl into the United States has destroyed countless innocent lives,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0169">said</a>. “The United States remains strongly committed to leveraging all available tools to degrade the capacity of CJNG and other cartels to flood our streets with dangerous drugs and perpetrate heinous acts of violence against civilians.”
Any property held by the five cartel members in the United States will now be frozen and reported to the federal government.
The Treasury Department described the organization as “a brutally violent cartel responsible for a significant share of fentanyl and other illicit drugs entering the United States,” adding, “It uses murder as a tactic to intimidate rivals, including sending messages to other cartels through the targeted killings of women.”
CJNG’s founder and leader, Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” was among the five men targeted.
“Under Oseguera’s direction, CJNG operatives have assassinated rivals, Mexican law enforcement, judges, and other government officials,” the Treasury Department noted, also pointing out that Oseguera’s leadership allowed the cartel to “function like a franchise business across several Mexican states,” allowing the criminal enterprise to spread across the country and rake in billions of dollars from the drug trade.
The Treasury also sanctioned Julio Alberto Castillo Rodriguez, who it identified as a senior CJNG member and the son-in-law of Oseguera. Castillo, believed to be a possible successor to Oseguera, operates a port in southwestern Mexico that the cartel uses to import fentanyl precursors.
Another target, Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytan, is known to recruit new CJNG members and train them at Izaguirre Ranch, a facility in the Mexican state of Jalisco, according to the Trump administration. Mendoza “directed lieutenants to train new CJNG recruits and kill those who defied instructions” and “has also been involved in the murder of numerous law enforcement officers,” the Treasury Department said.
The Treasury hit two more CJNG operatives, Audias Flores Silva and Ricardo Ruiz Velasco, with sanctions. Flores is a regional CJNG commander over several Mexican states and oversees laboratories that produce methamphetamine, while Ruiz runs the CJNG’s propaganda wing. Ruiz is also believed to have killed his girlfriend during a live social media broadcast.
The flurry of sanctions comes after the Treasury Department previously unveiled similar sanctions against members of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-treasury-dept-launches-sanctions-targeting-sinaloa-cartel">Sinaloa Cartel</a> and <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0146">Cartel de Noreste</a>. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender told The Daily Wire in an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-treasury-official-reveals-how-the-trump-admin-is-choking-off-cartels-cash-flow?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=28&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=EXCLUSIVE%3A+Treasury+Official+Lays+Out+How+Trump+Is+Choking+Off+Cash+Flow+To+Cartels">exclusive interview</a> that the sanctions are a key tool in the Trump administration’s fight against the Mexican drug cartels.
“If the money is not flowing back south, then there’s less of an incentive to bring the drugs and the guns and some of the illicit activity up to the north,” he explained.

CJNG Graffiti

Treasury Dept Sanctions Five Key Leaders Of Mexican Drug Cartel

Border

cartel

Crime

Department of the Treasury

Scott Bessent

Treasury Department

The Trump administration on Monday placed new sanctions on a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel responsible for fentanyl production and trafficking.
The Treasury Department also <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0161">announced</a> sanctions on two sons of the notorious drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera. Guzman’s sons, Archivaldo Ivan Guzman Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, are “fugitive leaders” of the Los Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel that runs fentanyl factories and trafficking routes into the United States.
“Los Chapitos is a powerful, hyperviolent faction of the Sinaloa Cartel at the forefront of fentanyl trafficking into the United States,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “At the Department of the Treasury, we are executing on President Trump’s mandate to completely eliminate drug cartels and take on violent leaders like ‘El Chapo’s’ children. Treasury is maximizing all available tools to stop the fentanyl crisis and help save lives.”
Los Chapitos has been identified as a top manufacturer of fentanyl pills through its many factories. Many of those pills are trafficked into the United States, fueling the U.S. drug trade and contributing to the tens of thousands of fentanyl overdose deaths in the United States every year.
The Sinaloa faction has also been linked to torture, extortion, and kidnapping, among other violent acts, and the turf wars it has fought against other drug cartels are believed to have taken hundreds of lives. The Sinaloa Cartel has also been linked to the 2024 killing of U.S. Marine Nicholas Quets in Sonora, Mexico.
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“The designation of the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) was a vital first step in honoring Nicholas’ memory and protecting other Americans from suffering similar tragedies. It sends a clear message: Those who target U.S. citizens — no matter where they are — will face the full force of American resolve,” Quets&#8217; father, Doug Quets, said in a statement.
The Department of State has placed a $10 million bounty on each of the &#8220;fugitive leaders” of Los Chapitos. The drug kingpin’s other two sons, Ovidio Guzman Lopez and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, are in U.S. custody along with their father.
Ovidio was arrested in Mexico in 2023, extradited to the United States, and is facing charges in Chicago on money laundering, drug, and gun offenses. Federal authorities arrested Joaquin last year in Texas where he is being held on charges related to money laundering, drug trafficking, and other crimes.
“El Chapo” has been found guilty on dozens of charges in the United States and is serving out a life sentence at a supermax facility in Colorado. The drug lord previously escaped two high-security prisons in Mexico before he was taken into custody by U.S. authorities.

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera

Trump Admin Sanctions Sons Of ‘El Chapo,’ Leaders Of Sinaloa Cartel’s Fentanyl Factories

Mexico&#8217;s president is threatening to &#8220;mobilize&#8221; the country against a Republican proposal to tax remittances, which advocates say would choke off cash flow to Mexican drug cartels.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum raged against the proposal in a speech against the law, which imposes a tax on money sent out of the United States by foreign nationals. “If necessary, we’ll mobilize,&#8221; Sheinbaum said. &#8220;We don’t want taxes on remittances from our fellow countrymen. From the U.S. to Mexico.&#8221;
President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” includes a 3.5 percent tax on remittances, a policy that experts told The Daily Wire is key to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-new-tax-on-money-sent-abroad-could-dry-up-drug-cartel-cash-and-penalize-illegal-immigration">throttling the flow</a> of cash into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels. Republican lawmakers are pushing for a tax on money flowing out of the United States to foreign countries just after the Mexican president said that she would “mobilize against it.”
The Mexican president’s statement drew the ire of Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO), who announced that he was introducing legislation to multiply the proposed 3.5 percent tax on remittances.
“The House’s Big Beautiful Bill addressed the urgent need for a remittance tax. But we can go further. I&#8217;m introducing legislation to quadruple the proposed remittance tax — from 3.5% to 15%,” Schmitt <a href="https://x.com/Eric_Schmitt/status/1931880241188024476">wrote on X</a>. “America is not the world&#8217;s piggy bank. And we don&#8217;t take kindly to threats.”
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Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) also <a href="https://x.com/chiproytx/status/1931864126323622017">addressed</a> Sheinbaum’s statement and came out in support of raising the tax on remittances.
The policy, immigration experts previously told The Daily Wire, would cut into cash that is funnelled from illegal aliens in America back to cartel members.
“Placing a fee on remittances is crucial because the more money that is smuggled back into Mexico, the stronger the cartels become,” said Ira Mehlman, the Media Director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
The remittance fee would also help America recuperate money that is effectively exported out of the American economy. “Many illegal aliens are working off-the-books, and therefore, no payroll taxes have been collected. Taxing the money as it leaves the country would be a way to recoup some of that revenue loss,” Mehlman noted. “Large-scale transfers of money to other countries have a negative impact on the American economy.”
Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK) introduced his own remittance tax legislation in 2022 and remains supportive of the policy.
“The cash flow from illegal immigrants in the States to their cartel partners in Mexico, Venezuela, and other countries is massive,” Hern told The Daily Wire. “It’s a two-fold win: remittance fees will help slow down the flow of those dollars to the cartels and will also create a new revenue source we can use to build the wall and secure our border.”

Mexican President Threatens To ‘Mobilize’ Against Law That Could Help Cut Off Cash To Cartels

Eric Schmitt

Illegal Immigration

The Supreme Court on Thursday tossed a lawsuit by the Mexican government against United States gun manufacturers.
The unanimous court decision found that Mexico did not prove a link between the gun manufacturers and cartel violence in Mexico. Justice Elena Kagan wrote the 9-0 opinion in the case known as Smith &amp; Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos.
“Mexico alleges that the companies aided and abetted unlawful sales routing guns to Mexican drug cartels. The question presented is whether Mexico’s complaint plausibly pleads that conduct. We conclude it does not,” Kagan <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1141_lkgn.pdf">wrote</a>.
Lawyers for the Mexican government argued that gun makers in the United States sold firearms to “rogue dealers” who in turn sold guns illegally to Mexican gun traffickers to eventually end up in the possession of cartels. The cartels have used those firearms to do damage to the Mexican government.
Mexico’s argument failed due to a lack of specificity and linkage between the gun manufacturers and the “rogue dealers.”
“To begin, the complaint sets for itself a high bar. It does not pinpoint, as most aiding-and-abetting claims do, any specific criminal transactions that the defendants (allegedly) assisted. Instead, it levels a more general accusation: that all the manufacturers assist some number of unidentified rogue dealers in violation of various legal bars. The systemic nature of that charge cannot help but heighten Mexico’s burden. To survive, it must be backed by plausible allegations of pervasive, systemic, and culpable assistance,” Kagan wrote.
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“Mexico’s lead claim — that the manufacturers elect to sell guns to, among others, known rogue dealers — fails to clear that bar,” she continued. “For one thing, it is far from clear that such behavior, without more, could ever count as aiding and abetting under the Court’s precedents. And in any event, Mexico has not said enough to make its allegations on this point plausible: It does not confront that the manufacturers do not directly supply any dealers, and its complaint does not name alleged bad-apple dealers or provide grounds for thinking that anyone up the supply chain often acquires that information.”
In recent months, President Donald Trump has ramped up pressure on Mexico to crack down on drug cartels across the country. The cartels have long served as human traffickers fomenting illegal immigration and drug traffic into the United States.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/world/americas/mexico-cartel-fentanyl-trump-tariffs.html">shown</a> some willingness to work with Trump on the cartel issue after the United States placed significant tariffs on Mexican goods, arguing that Mexico’s handling of drug cartels and immigration constituted a severe national security risk to the United States.

Smith & Wesson

SCOTUS Tosses Mexico Lawsuit Against U.S. Gun Manufacturers

Courts

Guns

Supreme Court

President Donald Trump fires back at Vladimir Putin following Russia’s aerial attacks on Ukraine, the Treasury Department reveals a new approach to combating drug cartels, and Hollywood enjoys a record-breaking box office over Memorial Day weekend. 
It’s Tuesday, May 27, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
 
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If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2>Russia Strikes Ukraine</h2>
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Topline: President Trump rails against Russian President Vladimir Putin after he launches another aerial attack on Ukraine.
Over the weekend, Russia launched a series of air assaults on Ukrainian cities, deploying hundreds of attack drones and dozens of missiles. Those strikes killed at least 12 people and injured dozens more — many civilians — in what Ukraine <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/russian-drone-fragments-set-kyiv-apartment-building-ablaze-official-says-2025-05-24/">called</a> the most extensive aerial bombardment of the three-year war. 
In recent months, there had been hopes that a peace deal was within reach, but Putin appears to be making clear that he’s pushing ahead, despite increased threats of sanctions from the West. Ukrainian intelligence <a href="https://ca.news.yahoo.com/russias-casualties-war-against-ukraine-095937828.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAM3atsZc41kCSRMKSfurjA_lU-16DhBVMjma8L5udzrwkvFa0KgXegrcgN4PLiL5kMS7G5o-tI97OUCDDVv0q_D28ERp7U8aWOO1ONbadwbiQg0sOb-32woFiDBFhUNANBcGjAoYOUBI1FcOyeD46QfZpkI09tXrEb_Zwy9CY8KJ">reportedly</a> shows that Moscow is gathering forces near the front line in preparation for a summer offensive. 
In response to those attacks, President Trump offered his <a href="https://x.com/yashar/status/1926775198956572815">strongest condemnation</a> of Putin to date. “I don&#8217;t know what the hell happened to Putin. I&#8217;ve known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he&#8217;s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don&#8217;t like it at all. Okay, we&#8217;re in the middle of talking and he&#8217;s shooting rockets into Kiev and other cities.“ Later, on social media, the president appeared to make a veiled threat against Putin, <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114571369956761390">writing,</a> “I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right. But if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!” 
However, this new anti-Putin rhetoric hasn’t exactly led to friendlier relations with Ukraine. Trump also said over the weekend that “Zelensky is doing his country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems.” 
Meanwhile, on Friday, Trump accused the Europeans of being “difficult to deal with” during trade negotiations, saying “discussions are going nowhere.”  The president threatened a 50% tariff that would kick in on June 1. That seemingly got their attention, as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the White House over the weekend to say “Europe is ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively.” As a result of that new willingness to make a deal, Trump agreed to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-delays-50-tariffs-eu-leader-blinks?author=Daniel+Chaitin&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=8&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Trump+Delays+50%25+Tariffs+On+EU+After+Its+Leader+Blinks">pause</a> his tariff hike until July 9 so an agreement could be reached. 
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<h2>Freezing Cartel Funds</h2>
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Topline:  Trump enlists the Treasury Department in his sweeping crackdown on drug cartels.
President Trump promised a “whole of government” approach to combating drug cartels. While the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Border Patrol have obvious roles to play, the Treasury Department is taking steps to crack down on money laundering.
“One of the most important things that the president did upon coming into office was to declare a number of the narco groups terrorist organizations,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender told The Daily Wire. “[That] unleashes additional authorities at Treasury for us to better target some of the financial activities that these cartels are engaging in. It&#8217;s one thing to have our partners at DHS work on stopping the flow of people and drugs, but we can also use our financial tools to go after the money – because if the money is not flowing back south, then there&#8217;s less of an incentive to bring the drugs and the guns and some of the illicit activity up to the north.”
Among other things, Faulkender explained why Brinks Global was fined $37 million. “There is a statute called the Bank Secrecy Act that requires that if you&#8217;re going to facilitate transfers of monetary sums, that you need to know who the party is that is receiving this money, that is engaging in this transaction. And so what we did is our Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which is called FinCEN, they launched an investigation into how this money was flowing south of the border – and found that Brinks had facilitated some of these money transfers without knowing who the parties were that were participating in this transaction.”
For the full interview, check out the Morning Wire podcast.
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<h2>Box Office Bonanza</h2>
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Topline: The box office for the holiday weekend blew away expectations. Disney’s live-action &#8220;Lilo &amp; Stitch&#8221; and Paramount’s &#8220;Mission: Impossible 8&#8221; set records to kick off the summer blockbuster season.
&#8220;Lilo &amp; Stitch&#8221; and &#8220;Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning&#8221; provide a much-needed shot in the arm for theaters nationwide. According to studio estimates, &#8220;Lilo &amp; Stitch&#8221; grossed a staggering $183 million domestically. That’s an all-time Disney record for this time frame. Its global haul was $342 million. Meanwhile, &#8220;Mission: Impossible&#8221; brought in a franchise-best $77 million domestically and $190 million worldwide. Taken together, Hollywood hopes this is a game-changer for an industry that’s been fighting to regain that pre-pandemic momentum.
Social media buzz for &#8220;Lilo &amp; Stitch,&#8221; especially from younger women and parents, has been off the charts with an “A” CinemaScore signaling strong word-of-mouth. Posts on X captured the excitement, with fans showing up in Stitch merch and plushies, turning screenings into events. This kind of cultural resonance is exactly what Disney banks on with its IP-driven strategy – sometimes successfully, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/snow-white-bombs-with-one-of-disneys-lowest-opening-weekends-for-a-remake">sometimes not</a>.
While it didn’t reach the heights of &#8220;Lilo &amp; Stitch,&#8221; &#8220;Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning&#8221; is unquestionably a triumph for Tom Cruise. The film’s opening beat the previous franchise record set by &#8220;Mission: Impossible – Fallout&#8221; in 2018 by $14 million, not adjusted for inflation.
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