President Donald Trump has quietly authorized the U.S. military to take action against certain Latin American drug cartels designated by Washington as foreign terrorist organizations, according to a report by The New York Times.
The move would allow American forces to directly engage cartels that traffic deadly drugs like fentanyl across the U.S.-Mexico border.
“The president is determined to not just dismantle – but completely destroy – [Venezuelan dictator Nicolas] Maduro’s Cartel de Los Soles and obliterate their operations in the Western Hemisphere,” a source close to the White House told the New York Post.
The source said the multi-agency anti-cartel effort involves the Department of Defense, Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Treasury Department.
“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,” deputy White House press secretary Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pushed back Friday against speculation of U.S. military involvement inside Mexico. “It has nothing to do with Mexican territory,” she said. “It has to do with their country. It does not involve our territory.”
Trump has long floated the idea of using military force against drug cartels to choke off the flow of narcotics and illegal immigration at the southern border. He has also sanctioned high-ranking members of Cartel del Noreste, one of Mexico’s most violent criminal organizations and a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist group.
More recently, Trump has wielded tariff threats to pressure Mexico and Canada into stepping up anti-smuggling operations.
The administration has also targeted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, wanted by U.S. authorities on drug trafficking charges. On Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.
“Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations like TdA (Tren de Aragua), Sinaloa and Cartel of the Suns (Cartel de Soles) to bring deadly violence to our country,” Bondi said in a video statement. “He is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security.”
Just weeks after Trump took office, the White House announced the extradition of 29 members of various Mexican drug cartels.
“The previous Administration allowed these criminals to run free and commit crimes all over the world. The Trump Administration is declaring these thugs as terrorists, because that is what they are, and demanding justice for the American people,” the White House said at the time.
