US Declares Gulf Clan A Terrorist Organization: The State Department has designated the Gulf Clan (AGC) as a foreign terrorist organization, citing large‑scale cocaine trafficking and violent campaigns across Colombia. The group operates in more than 20 departments and controls key smuggling routes through the Darién Gap. The move intensifies US efforts to cut funding and may complicate diplomatic and security cooperation with Bogotá while the group remains a major obstacle to President Gustavo Petro’s "total peace" plan.
US Designates Colombia’s Gulf Clan As Foreign Terrorist Organization, Heightening Diplomatic Tensions
US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, at a meeting at the White House in Washington DC, on 14 October.Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
The United States has officially designated the Gulf Clan — Colombia’s largest drug‑trafficking militia, also known as the Gaitanist Self‑Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC) — as a foreign terrorist organization. Authorities say the group generates revenue through large‑scale cocaine trafficking and uses those proceeds to fund widespread violence across the country.
What Officials Say
In a statement the US State Department described the Gulf Clan as a "violent and powerful criminal organization with thousands of members," whose primary source of income is cocaine trafficking. The designation signals intensified US efforts to disrupt the group’s finances and operations and to coordinate international law‑enforcement action against its leaders and networks.
Scope And Operations
Rooted in Colombia’s former far‑right paramilitary movements, the Gulf Clan operates in at least 20 of the country’s departments. It controls key human‑ and drug‑smuggling routes through the Darién Gap and has vied with left‑wing armed groups for control of drug corridors along the Venezuelan border. Although the group has sometimes attempted to portray itself as a political movement to influence negotiation terms, analysts say it lacks clear political goals and is driven primarily by criminal profit.
Recent Violence And US Actions
The designation follows a period of intensified violence: after the 2022 capture and extradition of the Gulf Clan’s principal leader, the group reportedly launched a campaign of assassinations and intimidation targeting police, local officials, and communities. US Southern Command has reported conducting strikes on vessels suspected of transporting narcotics; US officials say recent strikes near Colombia’s Pacific coast killed eight people, and some air operations in the region have been linked to more than 90 deaths off the Pacific and Caribbean coasts.
Political And Diplomatic Fallout
US officials say the move is intended to cut financial flows to the cartel and facilitate closer international cooperation against transnational drug trafficking. The designation could, however, deepen diplomatic tensions between Washington and Bogotá, complicating cooperation on security and regional issues. The Gulf Clan remains a major obstacle to President Gustavo Petro’s so‑called "total peace" plan, which aims to end Colombia’s multi‑faceted armed conflict.
Why It Matters: Listing the Gulf Clan as a foreign terrorist organization tightens legal tools available to the US and partners to sanction, freeze assets, and pursue extraditions — measures designed to degrade the group's ability to operate across borders.
The designation adds the Gulf Clan to the array of Colombian armed groups previously flagged by the US, including the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissident factions of the former FARC that returned to arms after the 2016 peace agreement. Colombian and international authorities will now face renewed pressure to translate the designation into coordinated enforcement and protection for affected communities.
