Texas Rancher Killed by Suspected Cartel Device

I urge all Texas farmers, ranchers, and agricultural workers who travel to Mexico or operate near the border to exercise extreme caution.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, after a Texas rancher who worked on both sides of the border was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED).

Why It Matters: Antonio Céspedes Saldierna, 74, was killed on the Mexican side of the border near Brownsville, Texas, after driving over an IED believed to have been planted by a drug cartel. Another individual traveling with Saldierna was also killed, and Saldierna’s wife was injured. This comes after the Trump administration designated several of Mexico’s most well-known cartels “foreign terrorist organizations.”

What To Know:

• This executive order designated several Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations. President Trump says that cartels, as well as two transnational gangs in Central America, exceed the dangers of traditional organized crime and “threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere.” (White House)

What Does a Terrorist Designation Mean?

• While the government uses sanctions, asset freezes and criminal charges against cartels, designating cartels as terrorist organizations opens the option of material support prosecutions. This means that any financial or material support (money, weapons, phones, etc.) associated with cartels can be used for prosecution. This could target not only cartel members but also street gangs with cartel ties and those providing financial or material help to cartels.

• While not directly authorized by the designation, the order has prompted speculation about the potential for military action in Mexican territory, e.g., the use of drones to target cartel activity. Before the executive order was in place, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico will not accept unilateral U.S. military activity in Mexico but will work with the U.S. to combat the cartels.“If they make this decree to investigate even more in the United States the money laundering and the criminal groups that operate in the United States, that carry out those drug sales, it’s very good. What we do not accept is the violation of our sovereignty.” (AP)

Read More: Texas Farmers Issued Warning After Rancher Killed In Cartel Explosion (Newsweek)

President Donald Trump Designates Several Cartel Groups as Terrorist Organizations (AP)

What Does a Terrorist Designation Mean in Practice? (NPR)

Image Credit: Daily Mail via X