Attacking Drug Boats: Bending or Breaking the Law?

U.S. attacks on alleged narcotics trafficking boats are being justified by the government as an exercise of national self-defense against a non-state group engaged in armed conflict. This legal assertion is fundamentally flawed, as it incorrectly equates a law enforcement challenge with a state of war. Unlike organized armed groups such as al-Qaeda, drug cartels like Tren de Aragua operate as criminal enterprises and do not use violence to achieve political control in a way that constitutes an armed conflict. Therefore, invoking wartime authority and the right of self-defense under international law represents a dangerous distortion that breaks legal norms rather than bending them.