Mexican national charged with conspiring to supply cartel terrorists with grenades: DOJ

A Mexican woman has become the first Mexican national to be indicted in the US on charges of providing material support to a cartel recently designated as a foreign terrorist organization.

39-year-old Maria Del Rosario Navarro is accused of conspiring to supply grenades to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), according to the Department of Justice. CJNG was one of several criminal groups officially designated as foreign terrorist organizations earlier this year.

According to a press release from the DOJ, she has also been 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.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi said of the case, “Cartels like CJNG are terrorist groups that wreak havoc in American communities and are responsible for countless lives lost in the United States, Mexico, and elsewhere.”

“This announcement demonstrates the Justice Department’s unwavering commitment to securing our borders and protecting Americans through effective prosecution.”

FBI Director Kash Patel added, “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.”

Mexico’s Security Minister Omar García Harfuch confirmed Navarro’s arrest earlier this month as part of a federal operation in Jalisco, identifying her as a CJNG operator. The DOJ acknowledged the cooperation of Mexican law enforcement in its official release.

The indictment comes after President Trump signed an executive order upon taking office that officially labeled major cartels as terrorist organizations, giving federal agencies expanded powers to pursue and prosecute cartel members and affiliates.

“The Cartels functionally control, through a campaign of assassination, terror, rape, and brute force nearly all illegal traffic across the southern border of the United States. In certain portions of Mexico, they function as quasi-governmental entities, controlling nearly all aspects of society,” the White House stated earlier this year. “The Cartels’ activities threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere.”