Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office directing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to explore designating major cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations.” Early this month, Rubio moved to designate six Mexican cartels and two other groups as FTOs.

The US State Department designated eight cartels and gangs operating in Latin America as terrorist organizations, following an executive order President Donald Trump signed during his first day in office.

U.S. designates eight Latin American crime groups as terrorist organizations, citing security threats, but Mexico pushes back.