The Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s (ODNI) National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) identified and shared intelligence with U.S. and Mexican law enforcement that led to the arrest of Sinaloa Cartel leader Leonardo Daniel Martinez Vera.
NCTC provided location information to Mexican authorities as they raided houses of interest in the investigation.
“We will not allow cartel gangs who target Americans to roam freely, whether in the U.S. or across the border in Mexico. Our team at NCTC is on the watch preparing for the moment to strike,” said National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard. “For more than two decades, NCTC has led the Intelligence Community in synchronizing information that can be turned into actionable intelligence for operators around the world to act on to go after those who threaten the safety and security of the American people. Now, thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we are surging resources against cartels and gang leadership, disrupting their networks, and working alongside our Mexican partners to make communities safer and protect American lives.”
Gabbard directed intelligence teams to dedicate resources to finding cartel and gang members following President Trump’s January executive order on the matter.
Similarly, the State Department designated several drug cartels as global terrorist organizations in February. A notice in the Federal Register lists the Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha, Cartel de Sinaloa, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, Carteles Unidos, Cartel del Noreste, Cartel del Golfo, and La Nueva Familia Michoacana as global terrorist organizations. The cartels “pose a significant risk of committing, or have participated in training to commit acts of terrorism that threaten the security of United States nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in the notice.
