The US adds 2 more Mexican cartels to its list of foreign terrorist organizations

July 16, 2026

cartel damage — By being designated as terrorist organizations, Los Viagras and the Juárez Cartel are subject to having the U.S. Treasury freeze their accounts and financial assets, with U.S. persons prohibited from dealing with them. (Juan José Estrada Serafín / Cuartoscuro.com)

The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday formally designated two Mexican crime groups as “foreign and global terrorist organizations,” joining six other Mexican cartels that the U.S. has labeled as terrorists.

Officially, the Treasury changed the designation of the two groups — the Juárez Cartel and the Los Viagras cartel — by adding them to the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s list of “Specially Designated Nationals” (“SDNs”).

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, whose Treasury Department formalized the new terrorist designations, justified the action by saying that they “highlight the diverse and insidious ways in which cartels engage in violent activities and exploit legitimate commerce.” (U.S. Treasury)

“The sanctions announced … highlight the diverse and insidious ways in which cartels engage in violent activities and exploit legitimate commerce,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday.

On the practical level, once an organization is designated as an SDN, the Treasury is authorized to freeze all its accounts and financial assets and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them.

SDNs are can be individuals, groups or entities, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers, that are targeted for enforcement action.

The two organizations had previously been denominated as “foreign persons involved in the global illicit drug trade.”

Although the new designation was made public this week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had approved the action on July 2.

Explaining that he had seen a “sufficient factual basis” with regard to the actions of the Juárez Cartel and Los Viagras, Rubio said both had either “committed terrorist acts or pose a serious risk of committing acts that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States.”

The Juárez Cartel is one of the oldest drug trafficking organizations in Mexico, having been founded in the 1970s. It primarily operates along the border with Texas by exercising control of the Ciudad Juárez-El Paso corridor, a critical crossing point.

Los Viagras mostly work in the western state of Michoacán, where, according to Bessent, “criminal extortion is particularly prevalent in the lucrative agricultural sector and economy of Michoacán.” In addition to extortion, Los Viagras also produce synthetic drugs.

The other six groups designated as foreign terrorist organizations are the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the Michoacán Family, the Northeast Cartel, the Gulf Cartel and Cárteles Unidos (United Cartels).

With reports from The Associated Press and La Jornada