The United States has added two more Mexican criminal groups to its list of foreign terrorist organizations, designating the Juárez Cartel and Los Viagras effective Thursday, July 16. The announcement, published in the Federal Register — the official gazette of the US government — brings to eight the total number of Mexican criminal organizations carrying the terrorist label, joining the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and others. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that both groups have either committed terrorist acts or pose a serious risk to the security of US nationals, as well as to American national security, foreign policy, and economic interests.

The Juárez Cartel is one of Mexico's oldest drug trafficking organizations, long controlling Ciudad Juárez — the border city across from El Paso, Texas — one of the most strategic crossing points on the US-Mexico frontier. Its founder, Amado Carrillo Fuentes, nicknamed