8 cartels now designated as terrorist organizations by U.S. State Department

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The U.S. Department of State has now designated several cartels as foreign terrorist organizations for the first time ever.

"It's going to open up the door for us to really take them out," DEA Houston Field Division Special Agent Daniel Comeaux said.

Eight cartels have now been designated as foreign terrorist organizations. This means any of their assets held by U.S. banks can be frozen completely, and there are immigration consequences for non-citizens.

• Tren de Aragua (TdA)

• Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)

• Cártel de Sinaloa

• Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG)

• Cártel del Noreste (CDN)

• La Nueva Familia Michoacana (LNFM)

• Cártel de Golfo (CDG)

• Cárteles Unidos (CU)

"One of the things it's going to make them think, first of all, is that we can hold their visas back if they're on this list. They're not going to be able to travel at will as they used to before, so this is something that's really going to hurt them," Comeaux said. "The biggest thing is that it just gives us a bit of latitude to really work to keep the community safe and focus on this area and stop the flow of drugs from coming here."

One of the cartels on this list is a criminal organization the DEA and federal officials in Houston have been talking about increasingly for the last year: The Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, CJNG.

ABC13 has done multiple stories in the last year of drug trafficking and chop shop arrests involving members of the CJNG.

Most recently, a few weeks ago when, members of the CJNG were charged with money laundering and drug trafficking while using several cellphone stores in the city as a part of their scheme.

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