On his first day in office (January 2025), Trump signed an executive order designating major Latin American drug cartels (including Mexican groups like CJNG and Sinaloa, plus Venezuelan-linked organizations) as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), equating them to groups like ISIS or al-Qaeda and unlocking military/intelligence authorities for direct action.
In August 2025, Trump secretly directed the Pentagon to use U.S. military force against designated cartels, shifting drug interdiction from a law-enforcement model to one involving potential operations at sea and on foreign soil.
Starting September 2025, the U.S. military has conducted dozens of strikes (reports cite 44 vessel strikes) on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing at least 150–151 alleged traffickers without traditional arrest or due-process procedures.
At the inaugural Americas Counter Cartel Conference (March 5, 2026, at U.S. Southern Command), White House advisor Stephen Miller declared there is “no criminal justice solution” to cartels and that they “can only be defeated with military power,” adding the U.S. is using “hard power, military power, lethal force” to defend the homeland.
Miller stated cartels operating in the hemisphere “are the ISIS and al-Qaeda of this hemisphere and should be treated just as brutally and just as ruthlessly” as those groups; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed that the U.S. will “go on the offense alone if necessary.”
The administration has formally notified Congress of a “non-international armed conflict” with cartels, justifying deadly force under counter-terrorism authorities without needing a new congressional war declaration.
U.S. intelligence and military support aided Mexico’s capture of CJNG leader “El Mencho” (February 2026) and contributed to the January 2026 seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro (accused of narco-terrorism); unilateral strikes continue regardless of host-nation consent in international waters.
Administration officials assert the lethal interdiction campaign has cut maritime drug flows dramatically (one reported figure: 97% reduction in certain corridors), framing fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction” requiring kinetic response.
Hegseth and Miller have warned Latin American militaries that “business as usual will not stand” and the U.S. is prepared to act alone; this includes planning for potential land strikes or special-operations raids if cartels are not dismantled.
Human-rights groups and legal experts (including UN statements) argue the strikes constitute extrajudicial killings of civilians, violate international human-rights and law-of-the-sea rules, and repeat the historical pattern where supply-side force fails to reduce U.S. drug availability or cartel power long-term.
These points reflect the administration’s stated rationale (protecting the homeland via “hard power”) alongside documented actions and counter-arguments as of March 2026.
Editorial comments expressed in this column are the sole opinion of the writer
