US President Donald Trump has declared that the United States is in a formal “armed conflict” with drug cartels designated as terrorist organizations, and that suspected smugglers for these groups should be considered “unlawful combatants,” as per a confidential notice sent to Congress this week.The notice, sent to multiple congressional committees, provides further detail on the administration’s previously limited legal justification for three US military strikes last month on boats in the Caribbean Sea. These attacks, which killed all 17 people on board, are argued by the administration to be lawful rather than murder, as reported by the New York Times. Under international law, a country engaged in an armed conflict can legally kill enemy combatants even if they do not pose an immediate threat, detain them indefinitely without trial, and try them in military courts.White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly stated that Trump is following through on his commitment to combat drug cartels.“As we have said many times, the President acted in line with the law of armed conflict to protect our country from those trying to bring deadly poison to our shores, and he is delivering on his promise to take on the cartels and eliminate these national security threats from murdering more Americans,” Kelly was quoted as saying by ABC News.The memo states that Trump has “determined” that cartels involved in drug smuggling are “nonstate armed groups” whose activities “constitute an armed attack against the United States.”The notice to Congress did not identify any specific drug cartels involved in the alleged armed conflict, nor did it clarify the criteria the administration uses to determine whether individual suspects are sufficiently connected to these groups to justify military action.The memo refers to a September 15 incident in which three people were killed on an alleged Venezuelan vessel, asserting that US actions in striking the boat were consistent with the law of armed conflict.“The vessel was assessed by the US intelligence community to be affiliated with a designated terrorist organization and, at the time, engaged in trafficking illicit drugs, which could ultimately be used to kill Americans,” the memo stated. It added that, although the strike was limited in scope, US forces remain prepared to continue military operations “as necessary” to prevent further deaths or injuries to Americans by eliminating the threat “posed by these designated terrorist organizations.”US officials have long argued that Venezuelan cocaine shipments fuel overdose deaths in the country and accuse President Nicolás Maduro of enabling drug trafficking, a charge he denies. The Trump administration has also offered a $50 million bounty for his capture.
