Shield of the Americas governments pledged to sanction anyone supporting Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel and 22 other criminal groups. Also on the Radar: prosecutors say the PCC controls São Paulo buses, and the ACSN loses its second-in-command.

Fifteen member governments of the Shield of the Americas coalition signed a joint statement on September 22 declaring their intention to freeze assets and impose visa restrictions and legal sanctions against anyone “knowingly providing material support” to 24 criminal organizations across Latin America and the Caribbean. The statement was endorsed by the United States, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago. Brazil and Mexico have not joined the coalition. 

The list includes MS13, Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG), the Gaitanistas, and Brazil’s First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital – PCC)  and Red Command (Comando Vermelho). All 24 are already US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). 

The Shield of the Americas is part of the Trump administration’s militarized anti-crime push into the region. Since September 2025, US strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have killed more than 200 people, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in August that Washington intends to take the same campaign onto land. 

Prosecutors Say the PCC Runs São Paulo’s Buses

Also this week, Brazilian prosecutors allege that the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital – PCC) controls at least 12 of the 22 companies operating São Paulo’s public bus system and uses them to launder money. 

ACSN Shuts Down Santa Marta After Losing Its Second-in-Command

And in Colombia, José Luis Pérez Villanueva, alias “Cholo,” the second-in-command and alleged finance chief of the Conquering Self-Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada (Autodefensas Conquistadoras de la Sierra Nevada – ACSN), was killed on September 21 in rural Santa Marta, along with six other members, including the son of group leader Fredy Castillo Carrillo, alias “Pinocho.” 

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