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By Brendan Cole
Senior Reporter
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A Mexican national faces the first federal charges issued for supporting a criminal group that under an executive order by President Donald Trump, is now deemed a foreign terrorist organization.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez, 39, has been charged with providing the Mexican drug cartel Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) with grenades and helping it smuggle migrants, firearms, money and drugs.
Why It Matters
On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order declaring that cartels are a national security threat beyond that posed by traditional organized crime as he tasked his officials with implementing "terrorism" designations.
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The indictment released Friday detailing the charges Navarro-Sanchez faces is the first to stem from Trump's decision to apply "terrorism" designations to foreign criminal organizations, including gangs and drug cartels.
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What To Know
Navarro-Sanchez is accused of involvement with the CJNG in charges that include providing it with grenades and engaging in "alien smuggling, firearms trafficking, bulk cash smuggling, and narcotics trafficking on its behalf."
She has two co-defendants who are also Mexican nationals who face charges of firearms trafficking and other crimes.
The Justice Department statement showed firearms and packages of meth and fentanyl allegedly linked to the case, as well as a photo of a golden AR-15 gun known as "El Dorado" allegedly "recovered" from her possession during her arrest in Mexico on May 4.
The U.S. State Department says that CJNG has conducted attacks and assassinations of Mexican military and police with military grade weaponry drones.
The indictment by the Western District of Texas is the first to charge a Mexican national with providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
On February 19, the Federal Register in the U.S. listed eight Latin American criminal groups as "foreign terrorist organizations," including the CJNG. The list was broadened to include more Latin American groups, including from El Salvador.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the statement said cartels like CJNG are terrorist groups that "wreak havoc" in American communities and are behind the deaths of many in the U.S, Mexico and elsewhere.
Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas said the federal charges against Navarro-Sanchez send a "monumental message" that U.S. law enforcement is cracking down on unlawful immigration practices and to dismantle the smuggling of illicit drugs and firearms.
What people are saying
FBI Director Kash Patel: "The arrest of Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez should send a clear message to people who wish to align themselves with terrorist groups that they will be sought out and held to the highest extent of the law."
US Attorney General Pam Bondi: "This announcement demonstrates the Justice Department's unwavering commitment to securing our borders and protecting Americans through effective prosecution."
Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas said: "The slew of federal charges we have brought against Navarro-Sanchez sends a monumental message through the ranks of cartels like CJNG—now designated as a terrorist organization—along with those who support them in various capacities, that U.S. law enforcement is turning up the pressure to crack down on unlawful immigration practices and to dismantle the smuggling of illicit drugs and firearms."
What happens next
The statement did not specify when Navarro-Sanchez's case would be heard but said it was part of Operation Take Back America—a Department of Justice campaign to tackle illegal immigration and eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
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