Justice Department memo on Caribbean drug-boat | Political News

A categorised temporary from the Justice Department has described Fentanyl as a potential chemical menace to the U.S, according to a new report.

The memo allegedly incorporates an define of the Trump administration’s justification for the persevering with strikes against boats popping out of South America. The prolonged doc notes that Fentanyl is one of many factors which was drafted to justify the use of the navy against traffickers.

It was famous in the memo, which was obtained by the Wall Street Journal, that fentanyl had been used as a weapon in the past. Specifically, the doc notes, in 2002, when Russians allegedly used aerosolized fentanyl to quell a hostage disaster in Moscow theater and killed more than 100 of the 700 people being held.

A Justice Department spokesperson told the outlet that, “The opinion explicitly states it doesn’t rely on the counterproliferation argument.” The main argument of the memo points to President Trump’s designation of drug cartels as foreign terrorists and, therefore, a legitimate military target.

Lawmakers who have read the memo told the WSJ that it asserts that the groups are smuggling drugs and, therefore, are engaging in destabilizing actions against the U.S..

Brian Finucane, a former legal advisor to the State Department during Barack Obama and Donald Trump‘s presidency, said the memo was “an unimaginable stretch.” Additionally, Lawmakers told the WSJ that the memo also attaches several legal arguments in support of the claim.

“Much of it’s geared toward making a financial argument about what the medicine are offering in phrases of financial assets to teams designated by the administration,” Senator Andy Kim stated. “But they’re attempting to use that now to create a deadly kinetic justification, which isn’t what that designation is for and has never been performed before.”

It was also reported that the brief cites the right to militarily aid other countries that are facing threats, arguing that the collective self-defense doctrine applies because drug organizations have clashed with authorities in Latin America which are allied with the U.S..

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The memo continues that the U.S. is involved in a non-international armed conflict with cartels, and since it is a legal fight, it argues that U.S. military personnel are acting lawfully and will not be subjected to prosecution. Another argument presented in the document invokes the presidential powers outlined in Article II of the U.S. Constitution.

Those powers allow President Trump to use the military for 60 days, after which he must seek congressional approval. Many critics, primarily Democrats, have ventured the opinion that there are multiple problems with the legal arguments and analysis presented.

Hegseth’s announcement

The existence of the document comes one day after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced “Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR.” Hegseth’s announcement serves as the beginning of a military campaign that he claims will remove “narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere.”

Hegseth’s comment likely refers to the Venezuelan vessels that the Trump administration claimed are carrying narcotics. “President Trump ordered motion — and the Department of War is delivering,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X on Thursday.

“Today, I’m asserting Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR,” he added. “Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and @SOUTHCOM, this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the medicine that are killing our people. The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood – and we are going to defend it.”

It was reported that the operation will comprise a dozen U.S. Navy ships and around 12,000 sailors and Marines, who will probably be stationed in the world after the arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford plane service.