In February, the administration designated Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and other drug gangs, as well as Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, as global terrorist organizations as part of a broader effort to crack down on crime and immigration concerns.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration could now use the military to go after these cartels. “It allows us to now target what they’re operating and to use other elements of American power, intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, whatever… to target these groups if we have an opportunity to do it,” Rubio said. “We have to start treating them as armed terrorist organizations, not simply drug-dealing organizations.”

The New York Times reported that President Trump secretly signed a directive to begin using military force against the groups. A U.S. official confirmed the move but said military action against the designated groups did not appear imminent and the exact type of operations remained unclear. A second official said the authority could give the U.S. Navy the ability to operate at sea and might include drug interdiction and targeted raids. The military has already been increasing airborne surveillance of Mexican cartels to gather intelligence.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said U.S. troops would not enter Mexican territory. She said her government had been informed of a coming order but that it had nothing to do with the U.S. military operating on Mexican soil. Legal questions surround potential action against cartels, with critics noting it could challenge domestic and international law. Some experts warned that such actions could be unlawful even if pursued in practice. Trump has previously suggested sending U.S. troops to Mexico to combat drug trafficking, an offer Sheinbaum has rejected, saying it would violate Mexico’s sovereignty. Relations between Washington and Mexico have at times been tense over U.S. anti-drug efforts.  (Reuters)