The U.S. administration is now using direct military force against drug cartels, sinking suspected 'drug boats' in the Caribbean after designating major cartels as terrorist organizations.
Sep 30, 2025
Source:
NPR
A New Military Front in the Drug War
The Trump administration has fundamentally altered its strategy against drug trafficking, now employing direct military force modeled on post-9/11 counterterrorism operations. This shift follows the official designation of major Latin American cartels as terrorist groups earlier this year.
Recent military actions in the Caribbean underscore this new doctrine. In August and September, a U.S. naval buildup led to strikes against suspected cartel assets.
Caribbean Strikes
At least one drug-smuggling vessel, reportedly linked to Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, was sunk, resulting in 11 fatalities. Subsequent airstrikes targeted other boats in the region. The operations involved coordination with regional allies, including the Dominican Navy, which assisted in recovering contraband from the water.
Official Justification
The policy change was enabled by executive orders in early 2025 that labeled groups like the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). This provides the legal framework for military action.
FBI Director Kash Patel stated that traditional law enforcement has proven insufficient. The new approach, he explained, allows the “Department of War and intelligence community to go after the threat like we did terrorists when we were manhunting them.” The administration argues that the scale and transnational power of these cartels are now comparable to global terrorist organizations. You can find more information on FTO designations on the U.S. Department of State website.
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Source:
VPM News
Legal Debates and Historical Precedents
The decision to use lethal force against cartel assets abroad has ignited a fierce debate among legal scholars over its legitimacy under international law.
Questions of Legality
Critics question the legal basis for conducting military strikes on suspected smuggling vessels, particularly those in or near the sovereign territory of other nations like Venezuela. The attacks raise complex issues reminiscent of the controversial 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama, which was also justified on the grounds of combating drug trafficking.
International law experts are now closely examining whether the FTO designation provides sufficient justification for such military actions outside of a declared armed conflict. More analysis on this can be found at institutions like the Council on Foreign Relations.
An Escalation of Past Policy
While U.S. military involvement in counter-narcotics is not new, the current strategy represents a significant escalation.
President George H.W. Bush’s 1989 national drug control strategy expanded the military’s role in detection and monitoring.
However, that policy stopped short of authorizing direct combat roles or lethal force against traffickers abroad.
The current operations move beyond support and interdiction to direct offensive action, a line the U.S. has previously avoided crossing.
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Source:
VPM News
