Trump Administration Uses Global War on Terrorism Tactics Against Drug Cartels

What Happened?

This week, the Trump Administration announced the U.S. military had struck another suspected drug trafficking vessel in the Caribbean, bringing the total to at least seven. Since August 2025, the U.S. has increased the number of warships, combat aircraft, and troops in the Caribbean region, including the reactivation of a large naval base in Puerto Rico. 

In addition to increasing military action in the Caribbean, President Trump has halted U.S. subsidies to Colombia while calling Colombia’s president ‘an illegal drug leader.’ The U.S has also ramped up pressure on the government of Venezuela, coming close to openly calling for regime change.

Why it Matters

The Trump Administration is borrowing tactics from the global war on terrorism and applying them to illicit drug trafficking. This is not the first time the U.S. has used military force to try to stem the flow of illegal drugs from Central and South America. In 1989, the U.S. invaded Panama and removed Panamanian President Noriega from power, incarcerating him on charges of drug trafficking. 

During the 1980s, the flow of illicit drugs into the United States skyrocketed as demand for cocaine grew to unprecedented levels. The amount of money drug cartels could earn also vastly increased from millions to tens of billions of dollars per year. With their newfound wealth, drug cartels expanded their operations further, using their resources to bribe government officials and, more recently, to hire ex-military members as security for their illicit activities. 

In response, the U.S. allocated more military assets to countries in Central and South America, providing intelligence gathering capabilities along with training and weaponry to help local law enforcement officials fight drug cartels, who often had private armies backing them up. These efforts produced mixed results, with some locations driving out drug cartels while others remained in their grip. Meanwhile, the flow of drugs north continued almost unabated.

After 9/11, the U.S. shifted its national military focus to fighting terrorism, with most of that effort directed against targets, groups, and individuals in the Middle East and central Asia. The global war on terrorism, which is what the U.S. military called combat operations after 9/11, evolved a new set of technologies and tactics by which terrorist groups and operatives could be located and quickly targeted with drones or special forces raids.

It is those tactics that the Trump Administration is now bringing to bear against drug traffickers. The ability to rapidly identify drug vessels and share that information with warships and attack drones in time to launch a strike is like the way terrorist targets were attacked in the years after 9/11. The U.S. military used those tactics to successfully disrupt, degrade, and destroy terrorist cells.

How it Affects You

In the past, drug cartels simply changed tactics when confronted with military force, finding new routes and different ways of bringing their illicit cargo to the United States. But today’s cartels have their own drones and soldiers, which raises the question of retaliation.

Drug cartels could retaliate in several ways, including sending death squads to target U.S. military personnel or government officials where they live. According to the Department of Homeland Security, cartels have already offered bounties for the killing of ICE personnel. That could be just the beginning.

In any case, the use of military force in the past only slowed down the flow of drugs for a short time, then it picked back up again. Until demand for those drugs is eliminated, it is likely the outcome will be the same today.