President Donald Trump has signed a classified directive ordering the Pentagon to prepare, and if needed employ, military force against select Latin American drug cartels that his administration has labelled foreign terrorist organizations, according to reports by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and other US outlets on Friday. The directive, described by officials as the administration’s most forceful anti-narcotics measure to date, authorises US forces to conduct operations at sea and on foreign soil. Defence officials told the Wall Street Journal that planning options include special-operations raids and enhanced intelligence support, though no timetable has been set. The move follows Trump’s February decision to designate eight criminal syndicates—including Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles—as global terrorists, and a July addition of the Venezuelan group. Washington says the harder line aims to curb fentanyl trafficking that caused roughly 50,000 US overdose deaths in 2024. Mexico, whose cartels figure prominently on the US list, sought to quell fears of cross-border intervention. President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government had been informed of the directive and was assured that “the United States will not come to Mexico with troops,” adding that cooperation with US agencies would stay within existing accords and that an invasion was “absolutely ruled out.” The order coincides with intensified US pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro—accused by US prosecutors of overseeing the Cartel de los Soles—including a decision this week to double to US$50 million the reward for information leading to his arrest. American, Mexican and other regional officials have not disclosed when or where any military action might be launched.