State AGs Tell Biden to Designate Mexican Drug Cartels as Terrorist Organizations

A truck burns after being set on fire amid an eruption of violence following the arrest of Ovidio Guzman Lopez, an alleged high-ranking member of a Mexican drug trafficking cartel, in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, on Jan. 5, 2023. Martin Urista/AP Photo

The attorneys general for 21 states have urged the Biden administration to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) under federal law, pointing to the rising fentanyl crisis.

In a letter (pdf) to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the coalition of attorneys general—led by Virginia’s Jason Miyares, a Republican—said that declaring Mexican drug cartels as FTOs will aid in freeing up resources needed to confront the deadly opioid crisis with the “seriousness it deserves.”