Did the U.S. Just Invade Mexico? And the First Cartel Associate Charged as a Terrorist
The El Paso indictment and the ICE Sinaloa controversy are not two separate stories—they are symptoms of a deeper transformation in U.S. cartel policy.
The war on drugs is getting a new chapter—grittier, more aggressive, and undeniably more political. In recent months, the United States has started reshaping its strategy against Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations. The signal is unmistakable: the gloves are coming off.
The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an unprecedented indictment in El Paso, Texas, in late April. Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez, a Mexican national, became the first person ever charged with providing material support to a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)—specifically, the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). Along with two co-defendants, she’s accused of trafficking grenades, firearms, cash, drugs, and even people across the U.S.-Mexico border on behalf of the cartel.
CJNG is one of eight international cartels officially labeled as FTOs under U.S. law as of February. The indictment didn’t just slap federal charges on a few traffickers—it set a legal precedent that expands how the U.S. can fight Mexican cartels, unlocking surveillance and counterterrorism tools usually reserved for groups like ISIS or al-Qaeda. In the words of DEA El Paso’s Special Agent in Charge Omar Arellano, this case is “a prime example of how DEA is expanding and incorporating more terrorism-related investigative authorities.”
“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,” said FBI Director Kash Patel.
But this wasn’t an isolated move…
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