Trump administration eyes military action against drug cartels, US officials say

WASHINGTON: The administration of US President Donald Trump can use the military to target Latin American drug gangs designated as global terrorist organisations and has directed the Pentagon to prepare options, US officials said on Friday (Aug 8).

In February, the Trump administration designated Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, other drug gangs, and Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua as global terrorist organisations, part of a broader push to increase immigration enforcement against alleged gang members.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday the new authority would allow the administration to use the military against cartels.

"It allows us to now target what they are operating and to use other elements of American power, intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, whatever... to target these groups if we have an opportunity to do it," Rubio said.

"We have to start treating them as armed terrorist organisations, not simply drug dealing organisations."

POSSIBLE OPERATIONS

The New York Times reported on Friday that Trump had secretly signed a directive to begin using military force against the groups.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the move but said military action did not appear imminent and it was unclear what types of operations might be carried out.

A second US official said the authority could allow the US Navy to take action at sea, including drug interdiction missions, and could also extend to targeted military raids.

The US military has already increased airborne surveillance of Mexican drug cartels to collect intelligence on their activities.

MEXICO’S RESPONSE

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday that US forces would not be entering Mexican territory.

She said her government had been informed of a coming order but that it was unrelated to US military activity on Mexican soil.

Any move to use American forces against cartels could raise legal questions.

Brian Finucane of the International Crisis Group has written that military action in Mexico would "be hard to square with domestic or international law".

"Even though US military action in Mexico would almost certainly be unlawful, as a practical matter such illegality may not serve as an effective impediment," Finucane said after the February designations.

LONG-STANDING TENSIONS

Trump has previously offered to send US troops to Mexico to help combat drug trafficking, an offer Sheinbaum said in May she had refused. He has also said publicly that the US would act unilaterally if Mexico failed to dismantle drug cartels, a position Sheinbaum has described as a violation of her country’s sovereignty.

According to former defence secretary Mark Esper’s memoir, Trump considered military action in Mexico during his first term, asking at least twice in 2020 whether the military could "shoot missiles into Mexico to destroy drug labs". Esper wrote that he replied it would be illegal and an act of war.

Washington’s efforts to prosecute and combat cartel activity have strained relations with Mexico, which has viewed some actions as challenges to its sovereignty.

On Friday, Sheinbaum also rejected US Attorney General Pam Bondi’s accusation that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, saying Mexico was not investigating any such ties and had no evidence. She added that if Washington possessed evidence, it should share it.