WASHINGTON — The U.S. military announced on Wednesday that it had targeted five suspected drug-smuggling vessels over a span of two days, resulting in the deaths of eight individuals. Others reportedly leapt into the water and might have survived the assaults.
The U.S. Southern Command, responsible for operations in South America, did not disclose the precise locations of the strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday. Historically, similar operations have been conducted in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Footage from Tuesday’s operation, shared by Southern Command on social media, reveals three boats traveling closely together, an atypical configuration. According to the military, these boats were part of a convoy navigating well-known drug routes and had exchanged narcotics among themselves before being targeted. However, the military did not present any evidence to substantiate these assertions.
In the initial strike, three individuals were reported dead. Occupants of the remaining two vessels abandoned ship, distancing themselves before these boats were also attacked. Following the incident, Southern Command notified the U.S. Coast Guard to initiate search and rescue operations.
The statement from Southern Command did not clarify if the individuals who jumped overboard were eventually rescued.
This coordination with the Coast Guard is noteworthy, particularly in light of earlier criticism faced by the U.S. military. In early September, U.S. forces faced backlash after conducting a subsequent strike on a disabled vessel, killing survivors of an initial attack. Some Democratic lawmakers and legal analysts accused the military of committing a crime, while the Trump administration and some Republican members defended the legality of the secondary strike.
U.S. forces attacked two more boats on Wednesday, killing five people who were allegedly smuggling drugs along known trafficking routes, Southern Command said in a separate statement. It did not provide evidence of the alleged trafficking or reveal the body of water in which the attacks occurred. Videos posted with the statement on social media showed a boat in the water and explosions.
The latest attacks bring the total number of known boat strikes to 35 and the number of people killed to at least 115 since early September, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and asserted that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
Along with the strikes, the Trump administration has built up military forces in the region as part of an escalating pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has been charged with narco-terrorism in the United States.
Meanwhile, the CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels, according to two people familiar with details of the operation who requested anonymity to discuss the classified matter.
It was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September, a significant escalation in the administration’s pressure campaign on Maduro’s government.
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