The United States has designated a notorious drug-trafficking organization in Colombia as a terrorist group, the BBC reports, as cited by Gazeta Express.
The U.S. Treasury Department added the group, known as the Clan del Golfo, to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).
The designation came just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order classifying the drug fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction.”
The two moves are seen as a further escalation of the Trump administration’s war on drugs, which has also included more than 20 deadly strikes on vessels suspected of transporting drugs in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
More than 90 people were killed in the attacks on the vessels, which some legal experts say violate international law.
Clan del Golfo is the latest Latin American criminal group to be added to the U.S. Treasury’s FTO list.
The group has been involved in criminal activity for decades, primarily trafficking cocaine from Colombia—the world’s largest producer of the drug—to destinations in the United States and Europe.
However, Clan del Golfo, which is based in Colombia’s northern Urabá region, also plays a key role in migrant smuggling through the Darién Gap, the jungle corridor linking Colombia and Panama.
In a statement announcing its designation as an FTO, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the group was also responsible for terrorist attacks against public officials, law enforcement and military personnel, as well as civilians in Colombia.
The group is estimated to have thousands of members and is believed to be the largest cocaine-trafficking gang currently operating in Colombia.
