Tren De Aragua, MS-13 'More Like Isis Than the Mafia,' Could See Military Force [WATCH]

As the Justice Department unveiled sweeping racketeering charges against a violent transnational gang this week, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz confirmed that the Trump administration is preparing to escalate its approach to foreign criminal organizations operating inside the United States.

Waltz said that groups like Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua are increasingly being treated not as criminal syndicates but as foreign terrorist threats, similar to ISIS.

On Monday, federal prosecutors announced RICO indictments against 27 individuals linked to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuela-based gang responsible for crimes across several U.S. states.

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Charges include sex trafficking, murder, drug trafficking, extortion, and robbery.

“[These] groups aren’t like the mafia, they’re more like ISIS,” Waltz said in an interview with Just the News, No Noise.

“They are combating the Mexican army in full-on-fire fights. They’re shooting at aircraft.”

He added, “They deserve all aspects of our national power to be used against them, to defend our sovereignty, to defend our borders.”

CARTELS ARE NOT LIKE THE MAFIA, THEY ARE MORE LIKE ISIS@michaelgwaltz explains why the drug cartels deserve all aspects of our national defense power to defend our sovereignty and defend our borders.@jsolomonReports pic.twitter.com/V6jvjBGUbN

— Real America’s Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) April 22, 2025

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As part of this broader strategy, Waltz cited recent actions under the leadership of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, including the deployment of 10,000 active-duty troops to the southern border, military aircraft, warships, and combat vehicles.

These assets have supported deportation operations and border patrol enforcement since the start of the year.

The administration is also employing tools beyond traditional law enforcement, including the designation of cartels and foreign gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).

President Trump signed an executive order in February establishing the framework for labeling transnational cartels as FTOs under U.S. law.

According to the executive order, organizations such as Mexico’s cartels, MS-13, and Tren de Aragua pose “a national-security threat beyond that posed by traditional organized crime,” due to their links to extra-hemispheric actors, foreign intelligence services, and their use of tactics aligned with insurgency and asymmetric warfare.

This designation provides the administration with expanded authority to use U.S. military and intelligence assets against these groups.

The CIA, under Title 50 authority, has recently increased its drone surveillance over Mexico with the cooperation of the Mexican government.

These missions are used to gather intelligence on drug labs, weapons shipments, and high-level cartel operatives.

The Trump administration is exploring covert options to target the groups, bypassing the need for a congressional Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF).

In the past, President Trump has favored using the CIA for precision targeting of terror groups, a strategy he employed during his first term when he authorized CIA drone strikes, including one that eliminated al-Qaeda leader Abu al-Khayr al-Masri in Syria.

Supporters in Congress have introduced legislation that would grant Trump the legal authority to use military force against the cartels, but officials say the president may not wait for Capitol Hill to act.

The administration’s approach draws on past precedent.

In 2019, President Trump designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

That designation laid the foundation for the January 2020 strike that killed Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.

Waltz emphasized that the designation of these groups as FTOs is not symbolic.

“It sets the conditions to use all elements of national power—military, intelligence, financial sanctions, and law enforcement—to dismantle these groups and restore control at our border.”

As cartel violence continues to spill into U.S. cities, officials say the current administration will continue to pursue all legal and military options available.

National Security Adviser @MikeWaltz47: “These gang members are an arm of a foreign terrorist organization. They are no different than ISIS in the way that they rape, torture, kill, maim their victims… They’re lucky, frankly, that they got a deportation flight.” pic.twitter.com/QRTbhhs52g

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 17, 2025