Lethal strikes on drug cartels coming? US justice department 'authorised' action against a secret list of traffickers, claims report
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A chart of the Sinaloa drug cartel published by the US treasury department Photograph: (Others)
A secret US legal opinion authorised lethal strikes on drug cartels, labelling traffickers as enemy combatants and expanding CIA's lethal powers, a report has claimed. Here is what it means
The Trump administration issued a classified legal opinion authorising the use of lethal force against a secret, wide-ranging list of drug cartels and suspected traffickers, CNN reported, citing sources. The opinion was drafted by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), the report said. The list reportedly includes more organisations than those already publicly designated as terrorist groups. The legal opinion is seen as justifying an open-ended campaign of lethal action without due process, according to the report.
What the OLC legal opinion said on lethal force against drug cartels
The OLC argued that President Donald Trump has the authority to approve deadly strikes against these groups, as they pose an “imminent threat to Americans.” Trump would effectively gain the power to label drug traffickers as ‘enemy combatants’ and authorise their killing — a major shift from previous US policy, which had treated traffickers as criminals subject to arrest and prosecution.
If the OLC opinion is as broad as it seems, it would mean DOJ has interpreted the president to have such extraordinary powers that he alone can decide to prosecute a war far broader than what Congress authorised after the 11 September 2001 terror attacks, CNN quoted Sarah Harrison, a former associate general counsel at the US Department of Defence, as saying.
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She warned that any small, medium or big group that is trafficking drugs into the US would amount to an attack against the United States and the administration could respond with lethal force.
The OLC legal opinion was also referenced in a recent Defence Department memo to Congress as the basis for a series of strikes on boats in the Caribbean. The memo stated that the US is in an “armed conflict” with the cartels and described smugglers as “unlawful combatants.”
US military strikes against cartel-linked boats
The US military has carried out at least four strikes against suspected cartel-affiliated boats in the Caribbean. The most recent strike reportedly killed four people on board. The legality of the strikes has been questioned both inside and outside the administration, with many legal experts saying the strikes do not appear lawful.
The way forward is “just to eat it and put your head down and act in accordance with” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s new policies, as an unnamed Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer cited by CNN. “No JAG is trying to rock the boat or get noticed.”
CIA’s covert authorities expanded
Besides authorising military strikes, the Trump administration has also expanded the Central Intelligence Agency’s covert authorities, allowing for lethal targeting of cartel members. According to the CNN report, Trump updated the CIA’s authorities around the same time he ordered military strikes on cartels. The CIA has also begun flying armed-capable surveillance drones over Mexico, the report added.
Authorisation for covert CIA action on counternarcotics dates back to a presidential “finding” from the 1980s, which is currently being revised. The expansion of CIA targeting authority could increase risks for Americans in Latin America, where more US citizens and green card holders reside.
