In a move that has stunned Washington insiders and enraged criminal networks, President Donald Trump has quietly authorized the U.S. military to use force against Latin American drug cartels designated as foreign terrorist organizations.

First reported by The New York Times, the order grants U.S. forces unprecedented authority to strike cartel operations both on land and at sea. Targets include Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, the Cartel de Los Soles, and the infamous MS-13 gang.

“The president is determined to not just dismantle – but completely destroy – Maduro’s Cartel de Los Soles and obliterate their operations in the Western Hemisphere,” a source close to the White House told reporters.

Since returning to office, Trump has tightened trade measures on Canada and Mexico over what he calls their failure to curb drug and human smuggling. He has also ordered immigration authorities to target and deport suspected gang members, while pledging to redirect seized cartel assets to families impacted by violent crime.

In a dramatic escalation, the Justice and State Departments announced a $50 million reward for information leading to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s arrest on U.S. drug trafficking charges.

The multi-agency campaign involves the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security, alongside the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Treasury Department. Deputy White House press secretary Anna Kelly said Trump’s “top priority is protecting the homeland” and that the move was necessary to “designate several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.”

Meanwhile, ICE recently arrested Cristian Alberto Rivas-Escalante, a known El Salvadoran fugitive linked to the 18th Street Gang. Officials say he entered the U.S. illegally in 2015 and was wanted for serious crimes in his home country.

The crackdown marks Trump’s most aggressive anti-cartel push yet — and signals a new era of U.S. military involvement in the fight against organized crime.