Public Safety Minister David McGuinty said Ottawa is listing seven transnational criminal organizations as terrorist entities, as it seeks to bolster its fight against drugs like fentanyl to avoid U.S. tariffs.
“We appointed a fentanyl czar to coordinate between all levels of government, agencies and law enforcement to tackle the fentanyl crisis, which is ravaging our communities, and today, we’re going after the money,” McGuinty said during a press conference in Ottawa on Feb. 20.
The terrorist designation will expand the toolkit law enforcement can use to pursue investigations and “track, trace, find” the illicit financing of drug cartels and interrupt it, the minister said.
“We know that by interrupting the money, we’re going to have a profound influence on the activities of the groups,” he added.
Listing the criminal groups as terrorist entities makes it illegal for anyone to participate in or support their activities, or deal with their property.
“Banks and brokerages will freeze these entities’ assets which can then be the subject of seizure, restraint or forfeiture,” McGuinty said.
The groups being listed are Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha, Cártel de Sinaloa, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, La Nueva Familia Michoacana, Cártel de Golfo (Gulf Cartel), and Cárteles Unidos.
Tren de Aragua and Mara Salvatrucha (also known as MS-13), are transnational crime groups with Venezuelan and Salvadoran roots, respectively. The remaining designated cartels are based in Mexico.
Speaking alongside McGuinty at the press conference, RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme said his police force has evidence that various international cartels and gangs are operating in Canada.
“There’s also strong intelligence that Canadians have actually moved to Mexico and South America to facilitate the transport of certain commodities into Canada,” he said.
Duheme remarked that many organized crime groups in Canada that are not designated could end up being charged under terrorism legislation if they cooperate with the cartels.
Canada has never previously listed typical organized crime groups as terrorist entities, but some currently listed entities are involved in criminal activities for financing, such as Lebanese Hezbollah.
When asked by reporters whether his department is redefining terrorism, McGuinty defended the new measures. He said the listing is based on the work of intelligence and security agencies which have given him assurances.
“Listings are, in fact, based on evidence, intelligence, and the law. All seven of these transnational criminal organizations clearly meet this threshold,” he said.
US Action
Canada’s new terrorist listings follows similar recent measures taken by the United States. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a notice designating eight international criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations on Feb. 6, and made the formal announcement on Feb. 20.“Today’s actions taken by the State Department demonstrate the Trump Administration’s commitment to protecting our national security interests and dismantling these dangerous organizations,” Rubio said in a statement.
The entities newly designated by the United States as terrorist organizations are the same as Canada with the addition of Cártel del Noreste (formerly Los Zetas).
Trump said the groups’ proximity to the United States and presence on its soil “pose an unacceptable national security risk to the United States.”
Canada’s decision to follow the U.S. move was announced on Feb. 3, after Trump said he was imposing 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods and 10 percent on energy imports.
In announcing the U.S. would pause the tariffs for 30 days, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was bolstering Canada’s border security plan by appointing a “fentanyl czar” and listing drug cartels as terrorist organizations.
The federal government has said the amount of fentanyl crossing from Canada into the United States is a small fraction of what comes through Mexico, but has nonetheless pledged that more needs to be done to tackle the synthetic opioid crisis.
McGuinty says that though the United States has emphasized the issue, the fentanyl scourge affects Canada as well.
“One of the things that we have shared with White House officials is that on some particular days on a per capita population basis, there were more Canadians perishing from fentanyl than Americans,” McGuinty told reporters in Toronto on Feb. 19. “I think they were astonished to learn this.”
Canada’s border plan in response to the threat of U.S. tariffs includes the creation of a joint task force with the United States to tackle fentanyl. Health Canada is also increasing its involvement to track the origin of precursors used to make synthetic drugs. Much of those have been coming from China, with criminal groups manufacturing the drugs on North American soil.
The involvement of Canada-based organized crime groups in fentanyl has increased by 42 percent since 2019, according to the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada’s public report for 2024. In total, 235 criminal groups are involved in fentanyl, says the report, with 35 involved in the export of domestically manufactured drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine.
