The Trump administration on Tuesday designated Colombia's largest drug-trafficking organization, Clan del Golfo, as a foreign terrorist organization and specially designated global terrorist, expanding the legal tools available to target the group and its financial networks.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the designation, calling the group "a violent and powerful criminal organization with thousands of members."

"The group's primary source of income is cocaine trafficking, which it uses to fund its violent activities," Rubio said in a statement. "Clan del Golfo is responsible for terrorist attacks against public officials, law enforcement and military personnel, and civilians in Colombia."

The designation comes less than two weeks after the Colombian government signed a landmark peace-building agreement with the group in Qatar's capital, Doha. That agreement included a provision suspending any extradition of Clan del Golfo leaders to the United States during negotiations.

The move marks the latest in a series of terrorist designations the Trump administration has applied to Latin American criminal organizations this year, following similar actions against the Sinaloa Cartel, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, MS-13, Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Soles.

Origins and reach of the organization

Clan del Golfo, also known as the Gaitanist Army of Colombia or by its Spanish acronym AGC, evolved from right-wing paramilitary squads that fought Marxist guerrillas in Colombia during the 1990s and 2000s.

The group is estimated to have approximately 9,000 fighters, making it one of Colombia's most powerful armed organizations. A report published last year by the Human Rights Defender's Office, a Colombian public agency, said AGC is present in about a third of the country's 1,103 municipalities.

In those areas, the group extorts local businesses and has been accused of recruiting children, according to the report.

Colombian military intelligence estimates Clan del Golfo ships hundreds of tons of cocaine annually to the United States and Europe. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the cartel imposes a "tax" on drug traffickers operating in its territory, charging fees for every kilogram of cocaine produced, stored or transported through areas under its control.

To maintain territorial dominance, cartel leaders employ hitmen to carry out assaults, kidnappings, torture and assassinations against competitors or those deemed traitors, according to the DEA.

The group is also a key contributor to human smuggling through the Darién Gap, the remote jungle expanse along the border of Colombia and Panama that has become a major route for migrants heading toward the United States, according to the State Department.

Implications for Colombian peace talks

The terrorist designation threatens to complicate ongoing peace negotiations between Colombia's government and the criminal organization.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has sought to negotiate with armed groups since his election in 2022, campaigning on a promise to bring "total peace" to the South American country after decades of cartel and guerrilla violence.

On December 5, the Colombian government and Clan del Golfo signed an agreement in Doha under which the group's fighters will be allowed to gather in specially designated zones in northern and western Colombia starting in March, where they will be free from prosecution while peace talks continue.

The agreement also stated that the Colombian government would suspend any extradition of AGC leaders to the United States during negotiations. Last week, the group's chief negotiator, Alvaro Jimenez, told Reuters that the group's commanders would likely face jail time in a potential deal, raising the stakes for non-extradition guarantees.

Gerson Arias, a conflict and security investigator at the Ideas for Peace Foundation, a Colombian think tank, said the terrorist designation "makes it almost impossible to continue these talks outside the country with security guarantees."

Elizabeth Dickinson, deputy director for Latin America at International Crisis Group, said a breakdown in talks could intensify the conflict.

"If peace talks were to end, I do think that that would lead to an escalation in violence across the north of the country, particularly," Dickinson told Al Jazeera.

She noted, however, that the designation does not preclude peace talks, citing the successful 2016 deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which was a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization at the time.

Tensions between Washington and Bogotá

The designation comes amid historically strained relations between the Trump administration and Colombia's leftist government.

In September, the Trump administration added Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in almost 30 years—a rebuke that reflected a recent surge in cocaine production and deteriorating ties between Washington and Petro.

The United States sanctioned Petro personally in October over accusations that he had allowed drug cartels to "flourish" and export cocaine to the U.S.—accusations Petro has vehemently denied, arguing that Colombia is intercepting record levels of cocaine shipments.

Rubio has publicly called Petro a "lunatic."

"The tensions between Colombia and Washington are at historic levels," Dickinson said.

She added that while terrorist designations are typically meant to stop third parties from doing business with targeted groups, the designation against Clan del Golfo could be more "symbolic" and will "give pause to Colombian authorities going forward."

Petro has criticized the lethal strikes the U.S. military has carried out against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Pacific as "extrajudicial executions" that "violate international law."

Last week, Trump said Petro has been "fairly hostile" to the U.S. and that he was "going to have himself some big problems if he doesn't wise up."

Legal and financial consequences

Under the foreign terrorist organization designation, U.S. courts can sanction any individual or organization considered to be providing assistance to or linked with Clan del Golfo.

Any assets the group may hold at U.S. financial institutions are frozen, and individuals—including U.S. citizens—who knowingly provide "material support" to the group can be prosecuted.

The designation does not provide the U.S. government with immediate authority to conduct military strikes, although it enhances the legal framework for potential attacks against targeted groups.

The Trump administration has previously designated Venezuelan gangs Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Soles as foreign terrorist organizations before launching strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats off the coast of Venezuela, the legality of which has been questioned by U.S. lawmakers.

The designation came hours after Trump signed an executive order Monday classifying the drug fentanyl as a "weapon of mass destruction." That same day, U.S. forces in the Eastern Pacific targeted three suspected drug boats, killing eight people on board.

Since September, the U.S. military has carried out more than 20 lethal strikes on boats suspected of carrying drugs, killing at least 90 people.

The United States has previously offered rewards totaling $8 million for information leading to the arrests and convictions of key Clan del Golfo leaders involved in human smuggling in the Darién jungle.