A federal prosecutor in South Texas says the Biden administration prevented authorities from aggressively pursuing members of Mexico’s drug cartels, but that the Trump administration’s decision to designate the groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations has changed the calculus. Aaron Reitz, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, made the argument during a press conference near the Texas-Mexico border, according to reporting by Breitbart Texas.
A Border Under Cartel Control
Reitz described the pre-designation border as effectively operated by criminal organizations. “The cartels functionally controlled, through a campaign of assassination, terror, rape, trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, and smuggling, all egress and ingress of our southern border,” he said.
He argued that the FTO designation has restored a measure of government authority over the region and unlocked a powerful set of tools for the Justice Department. “Because it now provides my office, along with our federal partners, the ability to smoke out, hunt down, and bring to justice some of the most evil people and organizations on the planet,” the newly installed U.S. Attorney said.
One Indictment, Twenty Years
The clearest example Reitz offered involved 21-year-old Jose Angel Flores Flores, a member of the Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel. Breitbart Texas reported that U.S. Border Patrol arrested Flores earlier this year after he crossed illegally from Reynosa into Mission, Texas.
After his arrest, Flores provided false information to authorities, claiming to be a minor. Agents discovered they had previously encountered him in January 2025 and deported him at that time. A follow-up investigation tied him to the Gulf Cartel and turned up a phone containing photographs and videos of Flores dismembering or incinerating bodies and posing with weapons.
Reitz said Flores admitted to being a “sicario” for the Gulf Cartel and the person the organization called when it needed a body disposed of. With that evidence, federal prosecutors secured a criminal indictment charging him with two terrorism-related counts on top of the immigration charge.
Without the FTO designation, Reitz said, Flores would have faced only a low-level illegal re-entry charge and deportation to Mexico after a short sentence, where he could have resumed his terrorist activities. Charged as a foreign terrorist, he now faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
A Message to Cartel Collaborators
Asked by Breitbart Texas whether similar charges are expected against other cartel members, including lookouts, drug mules, money launderers, foreign politicians, and hitmen, Reitz responded: “Absolutely. This is a message to anyone screwing around with the cartels — you got a big thing coming.”
The remarks reflect a broader shift in how federal prosecutors in the border region are approaching cartel cases. By treating the organizations as terrorist entities rather than purely criminal enterprises, prosecutors can pursue a wider range of charges and stiffer penalties against members who otherwise might have faced only immigration or drug charges.
Reitz’s comments come as the administration continues to emphasize border security and cartel enforcement. The Gulf Cartel and its various factions, including the Metros, have long been a target of federal law enforcement in South Texas, and the case against Flores is being presented as proof that the new designation is translating into concrete prosecutions.
According to Breitbart Texas, the charges against Flores represent one of the first public test cases of how the FTO designation is being used in court. The outlet reported that the criminal indictment includes two terrorism-related charges in addition to the immigration violation.
Whether that approach leads to a broader wave of prosecutions against the cartels’ support networks — the lookouts, couriers, and financiers who keep the organizations running — remains to be seen. Reitz’s answer to that question was unambiguous, and it signals that his office intends to use the designation as far as it will stretch.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/border/2026/09/16/biden-administration-handicapped-federal-law-enforcement-from-aggressively-pursuing-terrorist-cartels-says-south-texas-u-s-attorney/