By Zachary Stieber
Contributing Writer
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 newly obtained memorandum.
The Trump administration has carried out three strikes in recent weeks on boats it said were smuggling drugs in the Caribbean, starting with a Sept. 2 strike that administration officials said killed 11 members of Tren de Aragua, a criminal group that originated in Venezuela and was designated as a terrorist group by the United States earlier this year.
“Although friendly foreign nations have made significant efforts to combat these organizations, suffering significant losses of life, these groups are now transnational and conduct ongoing attacks throughout the Western Hemisphere as organized cartels,” stated the memo, which refers to cartel members as “unlawful combatants” and was obtained by the Associated Press on Thursday. “Therefore, the president determined these cartels are non-state armed groups, designated them as terrorist organizations, and determined that their actions constitute an armed attack against the United States.”
The White House and the Department of War did not respond to requests for comment.
The development drew criticism from Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the ranking member of the Senate Armed Forces Committee.
“Drug cartels must be stopped, but declaring war and ordering lethal military force without Congress or public knowledge — nor legal justification — is unacceptable,” Reed wrote on X.
Officials have said the strikes are necessary to protect Americans.
“We’re not going to sit back anymore and watch these people sail up and down the Caribbean like a cruise ship,“ Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in September. ”It’s not going to happen.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
