US Asks Mexican Drug Cartel to ISIS and Al Qaeda

ILLUSTRATION UNSPLASH/Alejandro Barba

JAKARTA - White House adviser Stephen Miller compared the legality of the Mexican cartel with the terrorist organizations ISIS and Al Qaeda.

"As a foreign terrorist organization, the Mexican drug cartel is in exactly the same legal position as ISIS or AlQaeda," Miller said, quoted by Sputnik, Tuesday, July 28.

Unlike the two groups, Mexican drug cartels operate near the US border, exporting mass death in the form of narcotics and criminal activities, he said.

"There is a reason why, in Mexico, the judicial system does not work, the political system does not work, and the legal system does not work. That's because you have territory controlled and occupied by terrorist organizations that kill or kidnap anyone who gets in their way," Miller continued.

In February 2025, the United States designated a number of drug cartels as global terrorist organizations.

The cartels include Tren de Aragua, Cártel de Sinaloa, Cártel del Noreste, Cárteles Unidos, and MS-13.

The list was later expanded to include other groups such as the Cartel de Los Soles.