US Indicts Mexican National on First Terrorism Charges for Allegedly Supplying Arms to Cartel

Acting ICE director Todd Lyons said the suspect’s alleged crimes were a ‘direct assault on the security of the United States.’

The letters 'CJNG' for the group's formal name, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, is scrawled on the facade of an abandoned home, in El Limoncito, in the Michoacan state of Mexico, on Oct. 30, 2021. Eduardo Verdugo /AP Photo

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on May 16 indicted a Mexican national for allegedly providing material support to a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, the first indictment of its kind in the United States.

Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez, 39, was accused of supplying grenades to the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG), one of Mexico’s powerful transnational criminal organizations, according to the DOJ.

Navarro-Sanchez was charged with conspiring to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States, straw purchasing and trafficking firearms, and possessing drugs with intent to distribute.

Her two co-defendants, Luis Carlos Davalos-Lopez and Gustavo Castro-Medina, both Mexican nationals, also faced firearm trafficking charges, according to the department.

“Supplying grenades to a designated terrorist organization—while trafficking firearms, narcotics, and human beings—is not just criminal; it’s a direct assault on the security of the United States,” acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Todd Lyons stated.

The DOJ also released photos showing what appeared to be “man-made tunnel” used to smuggle illegal immigrants from Mexico into the United States, along with firearms and packages of meth and fentanyl, which are allegedly connected to the case.

U.S. authorities seized about 20 AK-47-type firearms and two rifles in the Western District of Texas on Aug. 21, 2023, according to the DOJ.

The statement also included a photo of a multi-caliber AR-15 rifle known as “El Dorado” that was recovered from Navarro-Sanchez’s possession during her arrest in Mexico on May 4.

FBI director Kash Patel stated that Navarro-Sanchez’s arrest sends a clear message to those who get involved with terrorist groups that they “will be sought out and held to the highest extent of the law.”

“We will never allow criminal gangs and cartels to terrorize American communities,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement. “The days of unchecked gang and cartel violence are over.”

It is unclear whether the defendants have been appointed legal representation.

CJNG was among the eight cartels designated by President Donald Trump in February as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists. Other cartels include Tren de Aragua, MS-13, Cartel de Sinaloa, Cartel del Noreste, La Nueva Familia Michoacana, Gulf cartel, and Carteles Unidos.

Trump stated in his executive order that cartels “threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere.”

The Treasury Department has labeled CJNG as one of the largest fentanyl producers and traffickers to the United States. The criminal syndicate was also involved in money laundering, bribery, migrant extortion, and violent acts.

CJNG faced allegations that it attacked Mexican military and police with military-grade weapons and used drones to drop explosives on law enforcement. The group was also accused of involvement in the attempted assassinations of some Mexican officials, according to the statement.