Two Mexicans Admit to Smuggling Guns and Aliens for Terror-Designated Cartel

In federal court, Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez and her associate Gustavo Castro-Medina entered guilty pleas for alien smuggling and for furnishing extensive material support to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), a group designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Navarro-Sanchez orchestrated a scheme to move firearms from the United States into Mexico, intending the weapons to aid CJNG’s drug-trafficking operations, particularly methamphetamine shipments to the U.S. She also arranged for undocumented migrants to cross the border and negotiated a deal for 20 AK-style rifles and two.50-caliber guns, providing a $3,000 down-payment before undercover agents intercepted the transaction.

U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons praised the conviction as a step toward crippling the cartel’s financial networks, and DEA Special Agent Robert Castañeda emphasized that the terrorist label strengthens future prosecutions. Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva warned that the conduct threatened national security and American lives. The case underscores ongoing law-enforcement collaboration between the Department of Justice, Homeland Security Task Force, DEA, and Border Patrol.