President Donald Trump has “determined” that the United States is engaged in a formal armed conflict with “unlawful combatants” in drug cartels, in a move that further escalates the already-deadly situation in the southern Caribbean.

In a confidential notice sent to several congressional committees, the New York Times reports that Trump has classified drug cartels as “nonstate armed groups,” accusing them of facilitating “an armed attack against the United States.”

The determination of the armed conflict comes after three airstrikes on alleged drug smuggling boats from Venezuela by U.S. forces in September. The highly controversial strikes killed 17 people, who were labeled by the Trump administration as “terrorists” without direct evidence.

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