U.S. designates Colombia’s Clan del Golfo as terrorist organization

The United States has designated Colombia-based Clan del Golfo as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), citing the group’s role in cocaine trafficking and attacks against officials and civilians, according to U.S. officials.

The designation was announced Tuesday by the Department of State. The department said Clan del Golfo is a violent criminal organization with thousands of members whose primary source of income is cocaine trafficking, which it uses to finance violent activities in Colombia.

U.S. officials said the group has carried out attacks targeting public officials, law enforcement officers, military personnel, and civilians.

“The United States will continue to use all available tools to protect our nation and stop the campaigns of violence and terror committed by international cartels and transnational criminal organizations,” the department said. “We are committed to denying funding and resources to these terrorists.”

The designation adds Clan del Golfo to a growing list of criminal organizations in Latin America and the United States that have been labeled terrorist groups since the Trump administration took office.

Those designations include several major Mexican cartels, such as the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the Gulf Cartel, La Nueva Familia Michoacana, the Northeast Cartel, and the United Cartels, as well as U.S.-based gangs Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha.

Authorities have also designated Venezuela’s Cártel de los Soles and Tren de Aragua, and Ecuador’s Los Choneros and Los Lobos, as terrorist organizations.

U.S. officials said the designations are intended to expand the government’s ability to disrupt financing, restrict travel, and impose sanctions on individuals and entities linked to these groups.