President Donald Trump has designated Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, which could set the stage for sending American special operations forces into Mexico to kill local drug kingpins.

According to reports, there were no injuries in the incident near Fronton Island, an uninhabited island in Starr County, Texas.

Cartels have set off car bombs and beheaded victims. But designating them as terrorist groups could have unforeseen consequences.

His administration would have more power to impose economic penalties and travel restrictions, and potentially even take military action inside foreign countries.

Donald Trump returned to the US presidency on January 20 with a flurry of executive orders. This included the designation of criminal gangs and drug cartels operating south of the Mexico border as “foreign terrorist organisations” – a first for a US president. The state department will now decide which groups are added to the list.

Current and former federal senior law enforcement officials have warned of a possible “violent pushback” from Mexican cartels infuriated by President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown for how it will curb their human smuggling incomes.