Federal prosecutors announced that they had filed a terrorism related charge against a woman who is accused of getting grenades and being a key operator for Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG). The case is the first ever terror charge related to CJNG.
This week, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that they had charged 39-year-old Maria Del Rosario “Chayo” Navarro Sanchez with providing material support to a terrorist organization. The charge follows the February 20 designation of CJNG as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of State.
“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,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a prepared statement.
Mexican authorities arrested Navarro earlier this month in the state of Jalisco. At the time of her arrest, Mexico’s top law enforcement official announced that U.S. authorities wanted her on several charges that included arms trafficking, human smuggling, drug trafficking, and others. The woman had a gold-plated rifle with her at the time of her arrest. It remains unclear if Navarro will face charges in Mexico or be extradited to the United States soon.
According to federal prosecutors, Chayo helped direct human smuggling operations for CJNG in West Texas, as well as drug and cash smuggling. The woman is credited with overseeing the operation of tunnels used for smuggling migrants.
The announcement of the terror charges against CJNG operators comes just days after the U.S.D.O.J. filed narco-terrorism charges against key leaders of the Beltran Leyva faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, Breitbart Texas reported. In that case, the cartel leaders are linked to the large-scale trafficking of fentanyl, the main drug behind thousands of overdose deaths in the United States. The Sinaloa Cartel is also a foreign terrorist organization in the United States.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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