Trump declares drug cartels operating in Caribbean unlawful combatants

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President Donald Trump has declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and says the United States is now in a “non-international armed conflict,” according to an administration memo circulated on Thursday, after recent U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean. Scripps News confirmed on Wednesday that a memo from the White House to Congress designated drug cartel officials "unlawful combatants" engaged in an "armed conflict." "As we have said many times, 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," White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement. The move comes after the U.S. military last month carried out three deadly strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean. At least two of those operations were carried out on vessels that originated from Venezuela. ------------------------------------- Join our newsletter at https://bit.ly/2q1tepr Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scrippsnews/ Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/scrippsnews Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scrippsnews/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scrippsnews