US military strikes 'narco-trafficking vessels' in international waters again amid Trump's drug war

The US military on Wednesday (Dec 31) said that eight people were killed in multiple new strikes on alleged drug boats, bringing the death toll in Washington's campaign against what it says are narcotics traffickers to at least 115. US Southern Command, which is responsible for American forces operating in Central and South America, announced two sets of strikes, which were carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, "three narco-trafficking vessels traveling as a convoy" were targeted in "international waters," it said in a statement on X.

"Three narco-terrorists aboard the first vessel were killed in the first engagement. The remaining narco-terrorists abandoned the other two vessels, jumping overboard and distancing themselves before follow-on engagements sank their respective vessels," it said. Accompanying the statement, posted on X, was a video showing the vessels traveling together at sea and then hit by a series of explosions. The exact location of the strikes was not immediately made clear. Previous strikes have taken place in the Caribbean or the eastern Pacific. The military said it had notified the Coast Guard to "activate the Search and Rescue system," without offering more details about the fate of those aboard the other boats.

Trump's drug war

In December, Trump suggested that it would be "smart" for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to step down. He also suggested that the United States could keep and maybe even sell the oil it had seized off the coast of Venezuela in recent weeks, adding that America would also keep the seized ships. Maduro slammed Trump for his suggestion and urged the US president to focus on the problems plaguing his country.

The death toll amid US President Donald Trump’s campaign against drug trafficking has risen to over 115 with the recent strike. Since September, the US military has carried out more than 30 such strikes on what it says are boats used to smuggle drugs to the United States. This comes even as the Trump administration provided no evidence about the alleged drug boats, with critics questioning the legality of US military operations in international waters. Trump has maintained that he does not need congressional approval to order military strikes on Venezuelan soil. When asked directly whether lawmakers would be consulted before authorising land hits on drug cartels, Trump said he “wouldn’t mind” informing them but insisted it was “not a big deal”. He also suggested that briefing Congress could compromise operations, saying politicians “leak like a sieve.”