U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to use the military to enforce law enforcement against foreign drug cartels. The Republican's order provides an official basis for undertaking direct military operations on foreign soil and in the corresponding territorial waters against these organized criminal groups.
Trump secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that the administration has declared terrorist organizations, The New York Times reported Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The decision to involve the military is the most aggressive step yet in the administration’s escalating campaign against the cartels and underscores Trump’s determination to use military forces to carry out what have traditionally been law enforcement operations to stem the flow of fentanyl — a trade responsible for the worst addiction crisis in decades and the threat of which justifies the White House’s tariffs on Mexico and Canada — and other illegal drugs into the country. According to the anonymous sources cited by the newspaper, U.S. officials have begun developing options for how the groups could be pursued, according to people familiar with the discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Republican administration is sparing no means to combat drug trafficking, including the $50 million reward for the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom Washington links to the Sinaloa cartel and calls"one of the world's largest drug traffickers." But ordering the military to crack down on drug trafficking abroad also raises legal questions, including the possibility that such a crackdown could result in civilian casualties—even suspected drug traffickers—at the hands of military personnel deployed in third countries. Congress must authorize the deployment of forces abroad, under military circumstances, but the legal basis for more purely law enforcement operations, such as dismantling a cartel or arresting its members, is unknown.
At this time, according to the newspaper, lawyers from the White House, the Pentagon, and the State Department have not commented publicly on the matter. It is also unknown whether the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel has issued an authoritative opinion determining the legal issues.
If the militarization of the fight against drug trafficking is confirmed, it would not be the first such initiative. This year, Trump deployed the National Guard and troops to the southwest border to stem the flow of drugs and immigrants, and he ordered a redoubling of drug surveillance and seizure efforts. When he returned to the White House in January, he signed an order declaring drug cartels foreign terrorist organizations.
The president has particularly targeted Venezuelan and Mexican organizations. In February, the State Department designated Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (known as MS-13), and other organized gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, posing"a threat to national security beyond that posed by traditional organized crime."
Separately, according to Reuters, the FBI has asked local police departments to report the names of individuals linked to drug cartels and gangs to the U.S. government for inclusion on the terrorist watch list created after 9/11, which could result in Americans being included on the list.
The federal investigative agency contacted local law enforcement agencies via email on May 9, asking them to share the names of suspected ties to eight criminal groups that President Trump has designated as foreign terrorist organizations. It also asked law enforcement agencies to share information about family members and acquaintances of members of those groups.
The email, which was obtained by the nonprofit Property of the People, which advocates for public data transparency, and shared with Reuters, was forwarded to other law enforcement agencies and groups, such as the National Sheriffs' Association, which confirmed receiving it from the FBI.
