Argentina designates two Mexican cartels as terrorist groups
Original reporting: ZETA Tijuana
What happened
ZETA Tijuana reported that an October 21 presidential statement designated five organizations from Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador and ordered their inclusion in Argentina’s RePET registry.
Reporting and context
Argentina designated the Sinaloa Cartel and La Nueva Familia Michoacana as terrorist organizations in a decision covering five groups from Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador, according to ZETA Tijuana. The outlet cited a presidential statement signed by Javier Gerardo Milei and released on the night of October 21, 2026.
ZETA reported that the Argentine government also ordered all five organizations added to RePET, the country’s public registry of people and entities linked to acts of terrorism and its financing. The other groups are Colombia’s Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–People’s Army, or FARC-EP, and National Liberation Army, or ELN, and Ecuador’s Los Tiguerones.
The presidential statement described the Sinaloa Cartel as a transnational criminal organization involved in drug trafficking, smuggling, kidnapping for ransom and other offenses. It said the United States and other countries had already designated the cartel as a terrorist organization.
The same statement described La Nueva Familia Michoacana as specializing in international drug trafficking and illegal mining. It linked Los Tiguerones to drug trafficking and contract killings and characterized the Ecuadorian group as among the region’s most violent organizations.
The Argentine government described FARC-EP and the ELN as far-left insurgent guerrilla organizations. It argued that their operational capacity and regional expansion posed a risk to Argentina’s national security.
The decision involved coordination among the foreign affairs, national security and justice ministries and the State Intelligence Secretariat, known as SIDE, ZETA reported.
Original reporting: ZETA Tijuana.