A total of eight criminal groups rooted in Latin America are expected to be designated as foreign terrorist organizations by Secretary of State Marco Rubio as early as this week, according to five U.S. officials with knowledge on the matter. The move will be carried out by the State Department, following Trump's executive order signed on Jan. 20 calling for a crackdown on major cartels.
More concretely, the State Department plans to designate the Colombian-based Clan del Golfo organization as well as five other cartels based in Mexico: the Sinaloa cartel, Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, Cartel del Noroeste, La Familia Michoacana and the Carteles Unidos.
