The United States is engaged in an "armed conflict" against drug cartels, Donald Trump declared in a notice sent by the Pentagon to Congress, which aims to legally support Washington's recent operations off the coast of Venezuela.

The letter, obtained by AFP from a parliamentary source who requested anonymity, comes after the deployment of several military vessels in the Caribbean Sea at the end of August, and the destruction of at least three boats in this area, which Washington believes were involved in drug trafficking, resulting in at least 17 deaths.

Legal experts have stressed that these strikes fall outside any legal framework, and this official statement is intended by the Trump administration to serve as legal justification for the operations undertaken off the coast of Venezuela.

Such a report to Congress "is legally required (...) following any event where US armed forces have been involved in an attack," a White House official told AFP.

"As we have repeatedly stated, the President acted in accordance with the laws of armed conflict to protect our country from those who seek to bring deadly poison to our shores," said Anna Kelly, deputy White House press secretary.

However, the US Constitution states that only Congress has the power to declare war, further casting doubt on the validity of such a broad declaration of "armed conflict."

Drug cartels have become "more armed, better organized, and violent" over the past few decades, and they "illegally and directly cause the deaths of tens of thousands of American citizens each year," the Pentagon said in the letter, first revealed by the New York Times.

"In response (...), the President determined that the United States was engaged in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations," the notice continues.

Washington has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his government of running a vast drug trafficking organization into the United States. Caracas vigorously denies these accusations and, in response to the US deployment, which it considers a "military threat," has launched military exercises and the mobilization of reservists.

The Venezuelan Defense Minister also denounced on Thursday the overflight of five American fighter jets near the country's coast.

AFP