Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Nov. 13 that the State Department has designated Los Lorenzanas, a Guatemalan trafficking clan, a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. In a parallel action, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned the Los Mendoza and Los Huistas organizations as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Treasury says both groups give logistical support to the Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, which the administration designated as FTOs in February 2025, and that the two groups control smuggling routes along Guatemala’s borders with Mexico and Honduras. The FTO designation takes effect once it is published in the Federal Register.
Related Just Security coverage: The Dangerous Sweep of Trump’s Plan to Designate Cartels as Terrorist Organizations; Cartels Foreign Terrorism Designation; Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers, Operation Southern Spear, Operation Absolute Resolve
You can read the documents in full below:
State Department Designations
Office of Foreign Assets Control Sanctions
