More Individuals Expected to Face Narco-Terrorism Charges, Court Documents Show

Since his first day back in office, President Donald Trump has taken steps to hinder drug trafficking organizations. On Jan. 20, one of his many executive orders called for drug cartels to be designated as transnational terrorist organizations. Since then, eight Latin American criminal groups — including the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels — have been sanctioned, and cartel members have begun to be prosecuted as terrorists.

The first individual indicted on charges of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization was María del Rosario Navarro Sánchezalso known as “La Chayo.” According to U.S. prosecutors, she conspired with others to provide and attempted to provide grenades to the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), among other charges.

But according to court files obtained by the Mexican news outlet Millenniumseveral other individuals are also in line to be prosecuted as “narco-terrorists,” including former Colombian guerrilla fighters and two U.S. citizens.

Since narco-terrorism charges began reaching U.S. courts, the case of Colombian national Geovany Andrés Rojas, known as “La Araña,” has been among the top priorities for prosecutors.

As reported by Milenio, Rojas is the leader of Border commandsa criminal group formed in 2017 from dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and members of La Constru, a drug trafficking organization based in the Putumayo department, which borders Ecuador and Peru.

The indictment against La Araña alleges that between January 2017 and February 2025, he conspired with other traffickers to ship cocaine from Ecuador and Colombia to the United States. The document accuses Rojas of knowingly and intentionally providing, directly or indirectly, items of monetary value to individuals or organizations engaged in terrorist activities.

He is currently being held in a maximum-security prison in Bogotá and is awaiting extradition.

Similarly, another Colombian national, Adrián Alberto Cano Gómez, known as “El Andrea,” is also facing narco-terrorism charges, according to Milenio. He has been linked to the National Liberation Army (ELN), the oldest active guerrilla group in Latin America.

Cano Gómez has been accused by multiple organizations of committing war crimes against civilians and maintaining ties with the Sinaloa Cartel.

Court documents show that El Andrea began producing, distributing and trafficking cocaine from South America in 2007. He was extradited to the United States in April and is currently awaiting trial.

Milenio also reports that two U.S. citizens are facing prosecution on narco-terrorism charges. James and Maxwell Jensen were arrested in April and indicted on federal charges connected to a scheme to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars in crude oil from Mexico into the United States.

According to court documents, the Utah-based father and son “knowingly conspired and agreed together to provide material support and resources, namely U.S. currency,” to the CJNG. They are accused of facilitating nearly 2,900 shipments of stolen crude oil by falsely labeling the product as “waste oil” to bypass import regulations.

Prosecutors say the Jensens became involved in the scheme as early as May 2022. They now face five federal charges, including money laundering, fuel trafficking and conspiracy to support a terrorist organization.