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On Thursday, the Trump administration sent a memo to Congress asserting that the U.S. is engaged in a non-international armed conflict with Latin American drug traffickers. The memo declares cartel members to be unlawful enemy combatants, thereby enabling the U.S. military to act against them with the full scope of wartime powers.
This legal boldness builds upon earlier actions, most notably the designation of major Latin American drug cartels and gangs as international terrorist organizations. The memo emphasizes that President Donald Trump has already ordered the Pentagon to conduct military operations under the law of armed conflict, justifying recent offensive actions, including strikes on drug-smuggling vessels.