Washington designates a Colombian drug cartel a “foreign terrorist organization”

The United States announced on Tuesday that it has designated the Clan del Golfo drug trafficking gang in Colombia as a “foreign terrorist organization.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that this gang is a “violent and powerful criminal organization with thousands of members,” noting that its main source of income is cocaine smuggling.

He added, “The Clan del Golfo is responsible for terrorist attacks on government officials, members of the armed forces, Colombian military personnel and civilians.”

The administration of US President Donald Trump classified several drug trafficking gangs in Latin America as terrorist organizations, while it began carrying out raids targeting boats that Washington suspects of drug smuggling in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

The Clan del Golfo gang is one of the largest exporters of cocaine in the world. It is also involved in extortion and illegal mining cases, and represents one of the main security challenges to the Colombian government.