A 39-year-old woman is the first Mexican national to be indicted in the United States on charges of providing material support to a cartel designated as a foreign terrorist organization, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday, citing Texas court documents.
Maria Del Rosario Navarro is, according to the Department of Justice, accused of conspiring with others to provide grenades to Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), a powerful Mexican cartel that the U.S. in February designated as a terrorist organization alongside other criminal groups across Latin America.
“The arrest of Maria Del Rosario Navarro Sanchez should send a clear message to people who wish to align themselves with terrorist groups that they will be sought out and held to the highest extent of the law,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in the statement.
Navarro was also charged with “conspiracy to smuggle and transport aliens in the United States, straw purchasing and trafficking in firearms, bulk cash smuggling conspiracy, and conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute,” the Justice Department added.
Two Mexican men are, together with Navarro, also facing gun trafficking charges in a Texas court.
Mexican Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch had earlier this month confirmed the arrest of Navarro, whom he described as a CJNG operator, as part of a federal-level operation in Mexico’s western Jalisco state.
“The Justice Department thanks its Mexican law enforcement partners,” the U.S. department added.
The U.S. terrorism designations have come alongside a government crackdown on migration, with thousands of foreigners being deported to third countries in Latin America.
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