Latest news with #Navarro-Sanchez
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The US announces first ‘terrorism' charges for supporting a Mexican cartel
The United States has revealed the first federal charges against a foreign national for providing material support to one of the criminal groups that President Donald Trump has designated a 'foreign terrorist organisation'. On Friday, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a statement identifying the suspect as 39-year-old Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez of Mexico. An unsealed indictment accused Navarro-Sanchez of furnishing the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), a Mexican drug cartel, with grenades and helping it smuggle migrants, firearms, money and drugs. 'Cartels like CJNG are terrorist groups that wreak havoc in American communities and are responsible for countless lives lost in the United States, Mexico and elsewhere,' US Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the statement. 'This announcement demonstrates the Justice Department's unwavering commitment to securing our borders and protecting Americans through effective prosecution.' The charges stem from a decision early in Trump's second term in office to apply 'terrorism' designations to foreign criminal organisations, including gangs and drug cartels. On his first day back in office, on January 20, Trump signed an executive order declaring that 'international cartels constitute a national-security threat beyond that posed by traditional organized crime'. He directed his officials to begin preparations for implementing the 'terrorism' designations. By February 19, the Federal Register in the US listed eight Latin American criminal groups as 'foreign terrorist organisations', among them the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Mexico's Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion was also among that initial group of designated organisations. Since then, the Trump administration has broadened its scope, adding more Latin American groups to the list. On May 2, for instance, two Haitian gangs – Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif – joined the US's list of foreign terrorist organisations. These designations are a departure from the usual use of the 'foreign terrorist' label, often reserved for organisations that seek specific political aims through their violence. Critics, however, warn that this application could have unintended consequences, particularly for civilians in vulnerable situations. The 'foreign terrorist designation' makes it a crime for anyone to offer material support to a given group, but criminal gangs often extort civilians for money and services as part of their fundraising activities. 'You could accuse anyone – from a migrant who pays a smuggler to a Mexican business that is forced to pay a 'protection fee' – of offering material or financial support to a terrorist organisation,' Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told Al Jazeera journalist Brian Osgood earlier this year. In the case unsealed on Friday, it was revealed that Navarro-Sanchez was arrested on May 4. She had two co-defendants, also Mexican citizens, who likewise faced charges of firearms trafficking and other crimes. The Mexican government had previously confirmed Navarro-Sanchez's arrest. A statement ICE released to the media showed multiple firearms and packages of meth and fentanyl allegedly linked to the case. It also included a photo of a golden AR-15 gun known as 'El Dorado' that was reportedly 'recovered from Navarro-Sanchez's possession during her arrest in Mexico'. 'Supplying grenades to a designated terrorist organisation – while trafficking firearms, narcotics, and human beings – is not just criminal,' said ICE's acting Director Todd Lyons. 'It's a direct assault on the security of the United States.'
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Feds use new terrorism designation to charge alleged Mexican cartel member
The U.S. Department of Justice charged a Mexican cartel member Friday, using a new terrorism designation for the first time – providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Federal prosecutors unsealed the indictment in the Western District of Texas, alleging Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez, 39, provided grenades to Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). President Trump, in February, signed an executive order designating CJNG and seven other cartels: Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Cártel de Sinaloa, Cártel del Noreste (formerly Los Zetas), La Nueva Familia Michoacana, Cártel de Golfo (Gulf Cartel), and Cárteles Unidos as foreign terrorist organizations. Mr. Trump said cartels and other transnational organizations "threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere." House and Senate Democrats urged top Trump administration officials to unlock additional legal tools that would allow the administration to disrupt the cartels' financial networks and impose harsher penalties on entities that provide material support to them. Federal law makes it a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison and other fines to provide material support to cartels. The indictment filed against Navarro-Sanchez alleges that the Mexican national, in addition to conspiring to provide grenades to the cartel she also trafficked firearms and humans, smuggled bulk cash, and trafficked drugs on its behalf. "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," said acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas in a statement. Navarro-Sanchez allegedly conspired with two co-defendants, Luis Carlos Davalos-Lopez, 27, and Gustavo Castro-Medina, 28, both of Mexico. Davalos-Lopez is charged with conspiracy to smuggle illegal aliens into and transport aliens in the United States, straw purchasing and firearms trafficking. Castro-Medina is charged with straw purchasing and firearms trafficking, conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute, and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Texas mom accused of buying ammunition for son who officials say planned school attack What Trump's budget bill would mean for the fight against climate change What is the budget reconciliation process, and how does it work?
