Donald Trump has declared war on drug cartels and notified Congress that the United States is now in a ‘non-international armed conflict’.

The president’s drastic escalation comes after a series of recent strikes targeting drug-smuggling boats connected to ‘terrorist organizations’ in the Caribbean.

Trump aims to establish a solid legal basis for military actions with his declaration. International law allows a country to eliminate enemy combatants even if they pose no immediate threat and detain them indefinitely without trial.

Congress was notified about the declaration of war on ‘unlawful combatants’ by Pentagon officials at a closed-door briefing on Wednesday.

A memo sent to lawmakers goes beyond the administration’s previous self-defense claims, asserting that these boat attacks are part of an ongoing, active conflict rather than random incidents.

The notice uses language from international law – ‘non-international armed conflict’ – which refers to war with a non-state actor. 

The memo stated, ‘The involved cartels have become more armed, organized, and violent. They possess the resources, sophistication, and paramilitary capabilities to operate with impunity.’

This action follows Democratic lawmakers’ complaints that the strikes, including three lethal ones on drug traffickers last month, violate the War Powers Act, which requires military action consent from the chamber.

Donald Trump addresses senior military officers gathered at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday

Pentagon officials could not list the specific terrorist organizations involved in the conflict, which caused significant frustration among some briefed lawmakers, a source disclosed.

What the Trump administration laid out at the closed-door briefing was perceived by several senators as pursuing a new legal framework that raised questions particularly regarding the role of Congress in authorizing any such action, the person familiar with the matter said. 

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said: ‘The president acted in line with the law of armed conflict to protect our country from those trying to bring deadly poison to our shores, and he is delivering on his promise to take on the cartels and eliminate these national security threats from murdering more Americans.’ 

The administration has called the strikes ‘self defense’ and claimed that the laws of war allow the US to kill, rather than arrest, the smugglers who are working for cartels that the administration has deemed terrorists. 

The concept of ‘non-international armed conflict’ was developed during the 20th century to define civil wars, as opposed to those between distinct nation states.

The precedent was broadened following the 9/11 attacks when George Bush declared war on Al-Qaeda. Some legal scholars objected to the use of wartime powers, claiming that the terrorist organization was a band of criminals, not soldiers.

This was rejected by the Supreme Court which found the conflict against Al-Qaeda was indeed a war, permitting the government to hold captured terrorists indefinitely without trial. 

As the Republican administration takes aim at vessels in the Caribbean, Democratic senators and lawmakers have raised stark objections.

Some had previously called on Congress to exert its authority under the War Powers Act that would prohibit any action unless it was authorized by Congress.

The first military strike, carried out on September 2 on a drug-carrying speedboat, killed 11 people.

The boat was operated by the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, which was listed by the US as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year.

The Trump administration has justified the military action as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.

But Democratic senators and human rights groups questioned the legality of the president’s action.

They called it potential overreach of executive authority in part because the military was used for law enforcement purposes.

By stating that his campaign against drug cartels is an active armed conflict, Trump appears to be claiming extraordinary wartime powers to justify his action. 

Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committees, said the drug cartels are ‘despicable and must be dealt with by law enforcement.’

‘The Trump administration has offered no credible legal justification, evidence, or intelligence for these strikes,’ said Reed, a former Army officer who served in the 82nd Airborne Division.

The White House has yet to explain how the military assessed the boats’ cargo and the passengers’ alleged gang affiliation before the strikes.