The US has designated eight Latin American organised crime groups that also operate in the US to be foreign terrorist organisations.
The designation is normally reserved for groups like ISIS or Al Qaeda that use violence for political ends – not for money-focused crime rings such as the Latin American cartels. The groups, which include Mexico's notorious Sinaloa Cartel and Venezuela's Tren de Aragua, are involved in drug trafficking and migrant smuggling.
The designation was published in Thursday’s edition of the Federal Register. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the groups pose a risk to US national security, foreign policy and economic interests.
"The intent of designating these cartels and transnational organisations as terrorists is to protect our nation, the American people, and our hemisphere," Mr Rubio said in a statement.
"That means stopping the campaigns of violence and terror by these vicious groups both in the United States and internationally. These designations provide law enforcement additional tools to stop these groups."
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, called the designation a "sea change in US policy".
We "are now operating in a legal reality where these cartels are recognised as terrorists, and there will be a whole-of-government effort to remove these terrorists from our soil and to degrade their ability to credit or undermine any American security or sovereignty," Mr Miller told White House reporters.
Mr Trump, a Republican, issued an executive order after taking office on January 20 that called on officials to evaluate whether any criminal cartels or transnational gangs should be designated as terrorism groups.
This month he delayed a move to impose steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada over what he said was insufficient co-operation to thwart illegal immigration and trafficking of illicit fentanyl. CNN and The New York Times reported this week that the CIA was using drones to carry out surveillance in Mexico.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that US drone flights over Mexican territory were part of a collaboration with the US, adding that there was nothing illegal about it.
During Mr Trump's 2017-2021 presidency, he considered terrorism designations for cartels but ultimately shelved the plans.
