The Trump administration on Friday named three drug trafficking groups based in Guatemala as terrorists. The administration said the groups are key partners for the Mexican cartels that move fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine toward the United States.

“Today, the Trump Administration is imposing terrorist designations against Los Lorenzanas, Los Huistas, and Los Mendoza,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “These three Guatemala-based groups have deep ties with Mexican cartels, helping to move and export illicit drugs to fund terrorism and criminal activity.”

The State Department named Los Lorenzanas a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Mr. Rubio called the group one of Guatemala’s most powerful drug trafficking clans. He said it is responsible for many violent attacks on civilians, government officials and military forces. The Foreign Terrorist Organization label takes effect when it is published in the Federal Register.

In a matching step, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control put sanctions on the Los Mendoza and Los Huistas drug trafficking groups. The Treasury said they gave material support to the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The administration named both Mexican cartels Foreign Terrorist Organizations in February 2025.

“Under President Trump’s America First agenda, the Treasury Department will continue to target the criminal networks that enable violent organizations like the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG to traffic drugs across our borders and threaten the safety of the American people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

According to the Treasury, Los Mendoza was founded in the 1980s and is one of Guatemala’s oldest criminal groups. It gives the Sinaloa Cartel access to border crossings, secret airstrips, storage sites and local protection networks. It works in the departments of San Marcos, Huehuetenango and Peten. Los Huistas has been active since the 1990s. It is a link in the cocaine supply chain from South America, through Mexico and into the United States.

Under the sanctions, any property the groups hold in the United States or under the control of Americans is frozen. Americans are generally barred from doing business with them.

“The Trump Administration will continue to use all available tools to protect our nation by keeping illicit drugs off our streets and disrupting the revenue streams funding violent narcoterrorists,” Mr. Rubio said.