US President Donald Trump has declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and says the United States is now in a “non-international armed conflict”, according to a Trump administration memo, following recent US strikes on boats in the Caribbean.
Advertisement
Congress was notified about the designation by Pentagon officials on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The move comes after the US military last month carried out three deadly strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean. At least two of those operations were carried out on vessels that originated from Venezuela.
Those strikes followed a build-up of US maritime forces in the Caribbean.
“Although friendly foreign nations have made significant efforts to combat these organisations, suffering significant losses of life, these groups are now transnational and conduct ongoing attacks throughout the Western Hemisphere as organised cartels,” according to the memo, which refers to cartel members as “unlawful combatants”.
Advertisement
“Therefore, the president determined these cartels are non-state armed groups, designated them as terrorist organisations, and determined that their actions constitute an armed attack against the United States.”