NCTC Supports Law Enforcement, Disrupts FTO-Designated Cartels and Gangs

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ODNI News Release No. 27-25
August 25, 2025

NCTC Supports Law Enforcement, Disrupts FTO-Designated Cartels and Gangs

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Office of the Director of National Intelligence's (ODNI) National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) provided intelligence to support the successful arrest of a dangerous MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) member, Jonathan Ezequiel Portillo Beltran, by U.S. Border Patrol in Los Angeles, California, on August 14, 2025.

NCTC has surged efforts to identify members and associates of cartels and gangs designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) pursuant to President Trump's Executive Order 14157. Within the first month of these efforts, NCTC added over 21,000 cartel members and associates into the classified terrorist database. NCTC has since created over 35,000 identities related to the 10 newly designated FTOs that have been shared with law enforcement partners, leading to over 6,525 terrorists being denied from entering the United States.

"In response to President Trump's Executive Order 14157, NCTC stepped up to surge resources and personnel to counter terrorist cartels and gangs. Because of President Trump's designation and NCTC and Law Enforcement coordination efforts, fentanyl deaths are at an all-time low," said Joe Kent, NCTC Director. "Our team works to ensure law enforcement officers have operational intelligence they need when encountering suspected terrorists like Beltran. Thanks to this work, the days of terrorists living freely within our borders are over."

NCTC's watchlisting, screening, and vetting efforts have directly supported the successful detention, arrest, and pending deportation of terrorist cartel and gang members across the U.S.

Other recent encounters supported by NCTC's intelligence include:

• A member of the Los Zetas Cartel, Luis Alberto Davila Salazar, who was arrested on July 11, 2025 after illegally entering the U.S.
• A member of the Gulf Cartel, Edgar Omar Botello Rangel, who was arrested on July 21, 2025 when attempting to re-enter the U.S.
• A Sinaloa Cartel affiliate, Edgar Martin Rosales Montoya, who was apprehended on July 24, 2025 after illegally entering the U.S.

"This is a snapshot of our success and I am proud to work with our team here, across the Intelligence Community, and with our law enforcement partners at all levels," said Kent. "Our work is not done; we are just getting started."

At Director of National Intelligence Gabbard's direction, NCTC is applying two decades of counterterrorism expertise to lead the Intelligence Community in assisting law enforcement partners in identifying FTO-designated cartels and gangs who are responsible for flooding the U.S. with deadly fentanyl and other illicit drugs.

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