US sanctions two members of a Mexican drug trafficking group known as the Northeast Cartel

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States imposed sanctions Wednesday on two members of the Mexican drug trafficking organization Cartel del Noreste, the Northeast Cartel, which was formerly known as Los Zetas.

The Treasury Department is targeting Miguel Angel de Anda Ledezma, who allegedly oversees the procurement of guns and ammunition for the cartel, and Ricardo Gonzalez Sauceda, who was the second-in-command of the group before his February 2025 arrest by Mexican officials.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump’s administration designated Cartel del Noreste as a “foreign terrorist organization,” along with seven other groups.

The Republican president has made securing the U.S.-Mexico border among his top priorities. He has pledged to carry out mass deportations, send active-duty troops to the border and reach deals with some countries to take in more migrants.

The Northeast Cartel is a remnant of the Zetas. Zetas were comprised of former Mexican military officers and began as an armed militaristic wing of the Gulf Cartel that eventually split and became its own trafficking organization.

The Northeast cartel has retained a relatively small portion of what the Zetas once ruled. Its base is Nuevo Laredo, the busiest commercial port on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement that the administration will hold the cartels “accountable for their criminal activities and abhorrent acts of violence.”

“We will continue to cut off the cartels’ ability to obtain the drugs, money, and guns that enable their violent activities,” Bessent said.

In March a group of Mexican nationals and former leaders of the Los Zetas were arraigned in Washington on charges that included engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise that involved several murder conspiracies, conspiring to manufacture and distribute large quantities of cocaine and marijuana destined for the U.S.