Counter-terrorism law, organized crime and human rights — Submission to the upcoming report by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism
Recent reports have highlighted rising violence linked to illegal drug markets, as governments increasingly resort to punitive drug policies, including the use of counter-terrorism frameworks to address drug trafficking and organised crime.
The conflation of organised crime, drug trafficking and terrorism is not new. The term ‘narcoterrorism’ was first coined by Peruvian President Fernando Belaúnde Terry in the 1980s in response to attacks associated with Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) in coca-growing regions. It was subsequently used to frame insurgent violence and drug trafficking as a single security threat, paving the way for harsher and more violent state responses in cultivation areas.
Following the attacks of 11 September 2001, the USA intensified narratives linking organised crime and drug trafficking to terrorism. It designated several organised crime groups as terrorist organisations and expanded international military operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
More recently, in 2024, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa labelled 22 criminal organisations as ‘narcoterrorist’ groups and declared a state of exception that expanded the military’s role, contributing to a dramatic escalation in violence and homicides. Since then, countries including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru have designated criminal factions and gangs as ‘narcoterrorist organisations’.
The Trump Administration has been particularly active in instrumentalising the ‘narcoterrorism’ narrative. Since September 2025, the USA has killed more than 200 people in military strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that it alleged were involved in ‘narcoterrorism’. The identities of most of those killed remain unknown, and no evidence has been presented that they posed an imminent threat to individuals or to the USA. No independent investigation has been conducted, and no reparations have been offered to victims or their families.
At the same time, the USA has designated several drug trafficking organisations from Latin America as Foreign Terrorist Organisations, including Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The Trump Administration has argued that these designations permit the use of lethal force as a first resort against people alleged to belong to such groups. However, these claims have no basis in US law: such designations confer law enforcement and sanctions powers, not war-making authority.
In January 2026, the USA also carried out a military raid on Venezuelan territory to capture President Nicolás Maduro and transfer him to New York to face drug trafficking charges. This operation was contrary to international law and, more specifically, to the UN drug control treaties, which require drug control measures to respect the sovereign equality and territorial integrity of states.
The ‘narcoterrorism’ narrative is gaining worrying traction across the Americas. In March 2026, the Shield of the Americas summit brought together the USA and several Latin American and Caribbean countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago. The summit concluded with a political declaration aimed, among other things, at strengthening regional cooperation and military operations to counter ‘narcoterrorism’.