His administration would have more power to impose economic penalties and travel restrictions, and potentially even take military action inside foreign countries.

Cartels have set off car bombs and beheaded victims. But designating them as terror groups could have unforeseen consequences.

Donald Trump returned to the US presidency on January 20 with a flurry of executive orders. This included the designation of criminal gangs and drug cartels operating south of the Mexico border as “foreign terrorist organisations” – a first for a US president. The state department will now decide which groups are added to the list.

Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum said that Donald Trump’s decision to classify drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations won’t reduce crime, urging the new US president to work with her nation on security and drug prevention instead.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday said that U.S. President Donald Trump's decree earlier this week that drug cartels based in the country are terrorist groups "won't help,

The Mexican government has a team of lawyers in place to analyze the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's declaration that Mexican drug cartels are terrorist groups, the country's president told reporters on Friday.

The full implications of designating the cartels as terrorist organizations will depend, in large part, to how the administration follows through.