The White House has instructed the military to ready itself for strikes against Mexican drug cartels as part of President Donald Trump’s campaign to stem the flow of dangerous illicit drugs into the United States.
The president has repeatedly railed against the cartels, noting how they have killed scores of Americans by smuggling fentanyl and other dangerous substances across the southern border. Earlier this year, his administration labeled the cartels as terrorist organizations.
"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 in a statement back in February after authorizing military action against the drug traffickers in Mexico.
Now, it seems the administration is ready to escalate its efforts to combat the cartels, according to journalist Ken Klippenstein. In a post on his Substack, Klippenstein explained that Northern Command (NORTHCOM) would be spearheading the military effort.
The Trump administration has directed the military to prepare for lethal strikes against cartel targets inside Mexico, three military sources tell us. The Top Secret planning order, issued in late Spring, directs Northern Command (NORTHCOM) to manage the attack plans, which are to be ready by mid-September.
Though U.S.-Mexico military relations are broad and cooperative, any military action south of the border is considered extremely sensitive for both Washington and the Mexican federal government and is rarely discussed in public.
“Not only is Donald Trump uniquely focused on TCOs [transnational criminal organizations, the official name for cartels], having designated them terrorists in one of his first Executive Orders, but he has shown himself to be willing to take unilateral action despite potentially negative political ramifications,” says one senior intelligence official. He and the other sources say that military action could be unilateral — that is, without the involvement or approval of the Mexican government.
The unprecedented order was discussed at a July meeting at NORTHCOM headquarters in Colorado Springs that was led by Colby Jenkins, the unconfirmed Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict. Within days, Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, commander of NORTHCOM, hosted the two highest ranking Mexican military officials: Gen. Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, Secretary of National Defense, and Adm. Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles, Secretary of the Navy.
Sources told Klippenstein that Special Operations Command (SOCNORTH), will go through “operational preparation of the battlespace” in Mexico to lay the foundation for future military strikes. In particular, the military is expected to target the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
The military action could involve air and drone strikes, as well as special operations. Klippenstein noted that the Army Green Berets, Navy SEALs, or Marines could be deployed to carry out small-scale operations in Mexico.
The Mexican government has pushed back against US military action on Mexico’s soil. However, it has historically participated in joint operations with the US to crack down on cartels.
But Trump seems poised to bypass this type of cooperation if necessary. “We have to start treating them as armed terrorist organizations, not simply drug dealing operations,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an interview.
This development comes amid an ongoing opioid crisis, which has killed over 225,000 Americans. Many have accidentally overdosed after consuming regular street drugs that were laced with fentanyl without their knowledge, which means cartels are essentially poisoning people.
The Trump administration earlier this month send more than 4,000 Marines with warships and aircraft to Latin America and the Caribbean in a show of force against the cartels, CNN reported. Government officials stated that the buildup is “aimed at addressing threats to US national security from specially designated narco-terrorist organizations in the region.”