MEXICO CITY

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that Mexico would expand its lawsuit against US gun companies if drug cartels are designated as terrorist organizations.

After The New York Times reported that the US is planning to designate five Mexican drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), Sheinbaum suggested that Mexico would have to broaden its current legal battle against gun manufacturers responsible for arming criminal groups in the country.

"If they were to decree organized crime groups as terrorists, we would have to expand the lawsuit in the US because then, as the Department of Justice itself has already recognized that 74% of the weapons of criminal groups come from the US, how would the gun shops and distributors be left with the decree?" she said during her morning press conference.

The designation of Mexican drug cartels as FTOs is a longstanding US strategy aimed at taking a more direct approach to organized crime in Mexico.

With the beginning of US President Donald Trump's administration, that pledge has materialized into a presidential decree.

While the US government has not officially announced which of the 80 criminal organizations in Mexico would be labeled as FTOs, The New York Times reported that the Sinaloa Cartel, New Generation Jalisco Cartel, Familia Michoacana, United Cartels, and the Northeast Cartel are expected to receive the designation.

"We will never accept meddling, intervention and we will always defend our sovereignty. We are working within this framework," said Sheinbaum.