'Narco-terrorist' family members targeted in Rubio's latest visa crackdown

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visa bans on 75 family members and associates tied to the Sinaloa cartel, expanding the Trump administration's crackdown beyond drug traffickers to those that profit from ill-gotten gains.

The Sinaloa cartel was one of eight drug cartels designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations in February 2025. The classification allows the United States to pursue tougher criminal penalties and greater military intervention against drug cartels and their members.

"The Sinaloa Cartel smuggles illicit fentanyl, which the President designated as a Weapon of Mass Destruction, and other deadly drugs that harm American communities," Rubio said in a statement. "Imposing visa restrictions on drug traffickers, their family members, and close personal and business associates will not only prevent their entry into our nation, but also serve as a deterrent to continued illicit activities."

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Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., celebrated Rubio's decision to place visa restrictions on those linked to one of Mexico's top drug cartels on X.

"For too long, narco-terrorists have built fortunes off the pain and deaths of innocent Americans while their families lived in luxury off blood money," Salazar wrote. "The era of impunity is OVER. No more hiding behind money, power, or family ties. If you profit from cartel terror, the consequences are coming. America’s safety comes first."

The Sinaloa cartel is one of the two largest drug cartels operating in Mexico, with tens of thousands of members operating in more than 40 countries. A Drug Enforcement Administration operation last summer resulted in the arrests of 600 people tied to the cartel. Over the span of a week, federal officers seized 714,707 counterfeit pills, 926 pounds of fentanyl powder, 4,870 pounds of methamphetamine, 16,466 pounds of cocaine and 36.5 pounds of heroin.

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The State Department based its decision to prevent those tied to the Mexican drug cartel from entering the United States on a 2021 executive order signed by former President Joe Biden titled "Imposing Sanctions on Foreign Persons Involved in the Global Illicit Drug Trade." More than 325 people, including members of the Sinaloa cartel, have faced sanctions under the Biden-era executive order, according to the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Last September, the Trump administration sanctioned a faction of the Sinaloa cartel known as Los Mayos, as well as 15 companies affiliated with the group.

The Treasury has sanctioned more than 600 Sinaloa cartel-linked individuals and companies that played "critical roles" in the cartel's operations, under the authority of the Foreign Narcotic Kingpin Designation Act of 2000 and Biden's 2021 executive order.