President Trump has reportedly directed the Pentagon to use the military and target drug cartels that the commander-in-chief has pre-designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
Reporting from the New York Times cites people ‘familiar with the matter’, saying the president privately signed the directive.
White House Spokeswoman Anna Kelly confirmed to the Daily Mail that the president ‘took the bold step to designate several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.’
According to ‘people familiar with the conversations’, US military officials have begun drafting plans on how the military would be able to execute operations against certain organizations.
This move from the administration is a continuation of Trump’s efforts to expand his executive powers without the oversight of other government branches.
Brandon Buck, a foreign policy research fellow at the Cato Institute, told the Daily Mail that Trump is on his weakest legal ground to use unilateral force in Mexico.
‘Unlike the prolonged conflicts of the Middle East, where multiple presidents cited authorizations for the use of military force, such legal avenues are not present’ for Mexico operations, Buck explained.
This directive has some echoes of a similar move by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, who deployed over 20,000 troops to Panama with orders to arrest dictator Manuel Noriega on drug trafficking charges.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that designating these cartels as terrorist groups would permit the US to use all the tools in their toolbox
White House Spokeswoman Anna Kelly told the Daily Mail that ‘President Trump’s top priority is protecting the homeland, which is why he took the bold step to designate several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations’
In February, the State Department designated several groups as foreign terrorist organizations. They include notably Mara Salvatrucha (also known as MS-13) and Tren de Aragua along with others.
The department said the gangs constituted a ‘national security threat beyond that posed by traditional organized crime.’
The Trump administration added a few more to the list two weeks ago; the Venezuelan Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, explaining that the cartels were run by the President of Venezuela, along with other leaders on his staff.
The Treasury Department accused Cartel de los Soles of giving material help to other cartels, like the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico and Tren de Aragua, asserting they were ‘threatening the peace and security of the United States.’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio put out a statement days after, blasting Nicolas Maduro, saying his regime is ‘not a legitimate government’ and that he is ‘not the president of Venezuela’.
He added that Maduro, ‘has corrupted Venezuela’s institutions to assist the cartel’s criminal narco-trafficking scheme into the United States.’
In an interview Thursday with Raymond Arroyo of EWTN’s ‘The World Over’, Rubio said that designating these cartels as terrorist groups would permit the US to use all the tools in their toolbox, like intelligence agencies and the Department of Defense.
‘We cannot continue to just treat these guys as local street gangs. They have weaponry that looks like what terrorists, in some cases, armies, have,’ Rubio said. ‘Drug dealing is the kind of terrorism they’re doing, and it’s not the only.’
In May, President Trump told the Mexican President, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, that he would send US troops to her country to fight the drug cartels, but was turned away
The Mexican president has said several times that they will never accept the presence of the United States Army in their territory
In May, President Trump told the Mexican President, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, that he would send US troops to her country to fight the drug cartels, but was turned away, with the Mexican President saying, ‘… the territory cannot be violated’, and ‘sovereignty cannot be sold.’
Sheinbaum added that they will never accept the presence of the United States Army in their territory.
There are, however, legal implications with the president’s directive.
Legal experts are questioning whether strikes against cartels could violate international law if they kill members who don’t pose an ‘imminent threat’ at the time of the attack.
Brian Finucane, senior advisor to the International Crisis Group and former legal adviser at the State Department, tells the Daily Mail that unilateral U.S. drone strikes in another country would likely violate the United Nations charter and possibly violate U.S. law on assassinations.
‘To the extent the US military would be taking detainees, there are significant questions of the authority for detention outside of the civilian criminal justice system,’ he added.
The Justice Department has not commented or created an opinion on these legal issues.
In the past, the US military has overseen anti-drug exercises with countries like Mexico and Colombia, working with their troops
Buck issued a warning to the President, saying, if this is carried out, Trump could also risk significant diplomatic fallout with Mexico.
In the past, the US military has overseen anti-drug exercises with countries like Mexico and Colombia, working with their troops.
But the president’s new secret plans would likely be different, utilizing US military manpower, time and equipment, entering uncharted legal territory.
The Daily Mail reached out to the Pentagon for comment and any further clarification on how these plans would be executed. They redirected questions back to the White House.
