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The State Division introduced on Tuesday it’s designating Barrio 18 as a international terrorist group, saying the gang has carried out assaults on officers, safety personnel and civilians in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
Barrio 18 is among the largest gangs within the Northern Hemisphere, the U.S. State Division mentioned in a launch, including that the designation “additional demonstrates the Trump Administration’s unwavering dedication to dismantling cartels and gangs and guaranteeing the protection of the American folks.”
Greater than a dozen teams have been designated as international terrorist organizations for the reason that begin of President Trump’s second time period. In a February government order, Mr. Trump declared eight drug cartels as terrorist teams, together with the Sinaloa drug cartel, which is taken into account the biggest drug trafficking group on this planet, and Jalisco New Technology Cartel.
The designation introduced on Tuesday will place Barrio 18 on a listing alongside these organizations and others like MS-13 and Tren de Aragua. Beforehand, the designation was sometimes used for teams such because the Islamic State group or al Qaeda that use violence for political ends, moderately than for crime rings just like the cartels.
Barrio 18 was additionally named a “Specifically Designated International Terrorist.”
Moises Castillo/AP 
The Trump administration has used the international terrorist designation to justify a number of deadly strikes on boats allegedly carrying medicine, together with a minimum of two off the coast of Venezuela. A number of Democratic lawmakers have pushed again on the strikes, arguing that the administration hasn’t given a authorized justification for utilizing the army.
“America will proceed to guard our nation by preserving illicit medicine off our streets and disrupting the income streams funding the violent and legal exercise of vicious gangs and drug cartels,” the State Division mentioned Tuesday.
contributed to this report.
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