U.S. designates Colombian cocaine gang as terrorist organization

The United States has designated a notorious Colombian drug trafficking organization as a terrorist organization.

The U.S. Treasury Department added the group, known as Clan del Golfo or Gulf Clan, to its list of foreign terrorist organizations (FTO).

The designation comes just hours after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order classifying the drug fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction.”

The two moves are seen as further escalations in the Trump administration’s war on drugs, which has also carried out more than 20 deadly attacks on ships suspected of carrying drugs in the Caribbean and Pacific.

The attack on the ship killed more than 90 people and some legal experts said the move violated the law.

Clan del Golfo is the latest Latin American criminal group to be added to the U.S. Treasury Department’s FTO list.

The organization has been engaged in criminal activity for decades, primarily trafficking cocaine from Colombia, the largest drug producer, to destinations in the United States and Europe.

But the Golfo family, based in Colombia’s northern Uraba region, also plays a key role in smuggling migrants through the Darien Gorge, a vast jungle that connects Colombia to Panama.

In a statement announcing its designation as FTO, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio said the organization is also behind terrorist attacks against Colombian public officials, law enforcement and military personnel, as well as civilians.

The gang is estimated to have thousands of members and is considered the largest cocaine trafficking ring in Colombia.

It is on the FTO list along with three other Colombian criminal groups: the left-wing guerrilla National Liberation Army (ELN), and two groups that broke away from the FARC, a Marxist guerrilla force, when it signed a peace deal with the Colombian government in 2016.

Less than two weeks ago, Colombian President Gustavo Petro signed a landmark deal with the criminal group aimed at bringing peace to the areas under its control.

Petro campaigned on a promise to bring “comprehensive peace” to the South American country that has been plagued by cartel and guerrilla violence for decades.

But more than three years after he took office, negotiations with most of the country’s armed groups have stalled or broken down entirely.

Earlier this month, Colombian government officials announced an agreement with the Golfo tribe that would see the group begin taking steps to lay down its weapons, a victory for Petro.

Part of the deal was an understanding that members of the Gulf family would not face extradition to the United Nations.

The U.S. designation of Clan del Golfo as an FTO could complicate negotiations between the Colombian government and the organization.

Petro has not yet reacted to the move, but relations between the Colombian leader and the Trump administration have been tense.

Petro has called the deadly U.S. attack on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel in the Pacific “murder.”

Rubio, in turn, publicly called the Colombian president a “crazy guy.”

The direct impact of designating an FTO is that the United States will have more power to punish the organization.

Any assets Clan del Golfo may hold in U.S. financial institutions will be frozen, and individuals (even U.S. citizens) who knowingly provide “material support” to the group may be prosecuted.

The move comes amid high tensions in the region, with Trump repeatedly warning that “land strikes” on “narco-terrorists” could soon follow up on maritime strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels.

So far, Trump has mainly targeted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom he accuses of leading another group designated by the U.S. as a free trade group: the Sun Cartel.

But when reporters asked him about his plans for Venezuela on Friday, he not only again mentioned the possibility of attacking drug smugglers on land but also seemed to hint at the possibility of doing so in Colombia.

“There are at least three cocaine factories in Colombia. It’s a different country,” he said.

He later added: “But this is not just a ground strike against Venezuela, but a ground strike against these terrible people who are bringing drugs and killing our people.”

Trump argued that attacks on suspected drug ships saved American lives by preventing the powerful opioid fentanyl from entering the United States.

Fentanyl abuse has triggered one of the most serious public health emergencies in the United States, with more than 110,000 drug-related deaths in the United States in 2023.

Although drug overdose deaths fell by 25% in 2024, solving the crisis remains one of Trump’s top priorities.

Trump said each attack on a suspected drug-trafficking ship “saves 25,000 American lives,” but U.S. officials have provided no evidence that the ships they attacked were carrying fentanyl, which is 50 times more powerful than heroin and far more deadly than cocaine.

Counter-narcotics experts point out that neither Colombia nor Venezuela produces fentanyl and question the Trump administration’s focus on those countries.

The executive order signed by Trump on Monday classifying fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction” signals that he may take a two-track approach by continuing to crack down on ships suspected of carrying cocaine and expanding the government’s authority to crack down on fentanyl trafficking.

However, the move was criticized by Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum.

Mexican leaders insist the root causes of drug abuse must be addressed.

She added that fentanyl is also legally used in hospitals to relieve pain and questioned the unintended effects of classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.