Mexico’s president said if the U.S. designates Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations, her country will expand legal action to try to stop the flow of U.S. guns to cartels.
President Donald Trump directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to designate the cartels in executive order shortly after taking office.
The New York Times reports that the U.S. State Department has created a list of cartels it wants to designate as foreign terrorist organizations, including six based in Mexico.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in her regular morning press conference that if the U.S. goes through with that designation, she plans to expand an existing lawsuit in U.S. courts against gun manufacturers.
Mexico says more than 70% of the arms used by cartels come from the U.S.
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments about whether or not the existing lawsuit from Mexico against gun makers should go forward early next month.
A foreign terrorist designation would put the cartels in the same category as armed foreign groups like al-Qaida and Boko Haram.
