U.S. Military Strikes Suspected Drug-Smuggling Boat In Eastern Pacific, Killing Two

Return of Trump's boat strike campaign reignites questions of legality -- and usefulness The administration has resumed strikes after months of dormancy. The Trump administration last week revived its controversial boat strike campaign targeting alleged drug-smugglers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific after months of dormancy, prompting a fresh round of scrutiny from critics who have panned the boat bombings as illegal extrajudicial killings. A secret Justice Department memo that the administration has used as a basis for the campaign -- first known as Operation Southern Spear but now called Operation Joint Task Force-Western Hemisphere -- gives the president broad constitutional authority to order the attacks in the national interest, sources familiar with the document told ABC News. Some Democrats had expressed hope that the two-month pause in the strikes meant the administration had come to terms with what Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., called a "lack of effectiveness ... in reducing drug flow" in an interview with ABC News. But a new round of strikes last week suggests that the administration is moving ahead with the polarizing campaign, which has killed at least 227 people whom officials allege are "narcoterrorists" over the course of almost exactly one year. President Donald Trump has claimed, without evidence, that the strikes have reduced the flow of drugs into the country by 98%, a figure the White House says reflects Customs and Border Protection's fentanyl seizure statistics. Critics, however, dismiss that as an irrelevant metric since the drug smugglers they are pursuing generally traffic other types of drugs, like cocaine. "His administration's illegal and ineffective campaign of boat strikes in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific has violated U.S. laws, failed to meaningfully stop drug trafficking, and legally imperiled U.S. servicemembers ordered to conduct these strikes," said Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Tx., who has sent letters to the administration about the strikes. In a statement to ABC News last week, U.S. Southern Command, which oversees the operations, said the new operation was "an evolution in our broader efforts" under Southern Spear, which began last Sept. 2, to target the movement of illicit drugs. A 'get-of-jail-free card' To justify their strike operations, the administration has relied on and publicly cited a memorandum prepared by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, which it has kept secret despite pressure from lawmakers and civil liberties groups. It is unclear whether the three strikes in international waters last week fit under the same targeting criteria and legal justification as the prior 63 strikes, which were officially a part of Operation Southern Spear. But sources familiar with the memo told ABC News that the document grants the president and military commanders in the chain of command broad authority to order the boat strikes by characterizing the vessels themselves as the intended military targets, as opposed to the individuals aboard. The vessels, which sources said the memo treats as facilities and lawful military targets, are prioritized as a part of SOUTHCOM's efforts to combat designated terrorists. Under the legal framework, casualties are expected, since a non-lethal option is not considered possible, the sources said. In its public commentary on the strikes, which have generally been announced by the Pentagon on X, alongside video footage of strikes, the administration has repeatedly focused on the individuals in the boats, calling them "narcoterrorists." According to Kaine, who has reviewed the memo and separate documents that lay out the military's boat strike campaign, permissible "narcoterrorist" targets include so-called allies or affiliates of designated terrorist organizations. Kaine declined to share any additional details of the memo with ABC News. Intelligence on the strike targets does not need to positively identify people on the boat or locate narcotics aboard, Kaine said, based on his reading of the criteria. Brian Finucane, a former State Department attorney-adviser during the Obama and first Trump administrations, criticized the memo as a "permission slip" for the administration. It's essentially "a get-of-jail-free card to give the military comfort to engage in lawless premeditated killing" while not being "overly concerned that the duty personnel were going to face criminal prosecution," Finucane told ABC News. Kaine, in a letter to the White House, said he believed the strikes have targeted people who are not involved in drug trafficking -- calling them "murder victims." "No one from the Pentagon who has knowledge of this has looked me in the eye and said there are not civilian casualties," the Virginia senator told ABC News. "Aside from the White House spokesperson usually saying these are all narcoterrorists, I believe everyone in the Pentagon is aware that there are civilian casualties." In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for the White House said the strikes have "not only eliminated narcoterrorists themselves, but also discouraged bad actors from trying to smuggle drugs into our country should they meet the same deadly fate." A check on the 'administration's worst instincts'? Prior to last week's strikes, which took place in international waters off the coast of South America, the most recent attack had occurred in late June. The U.S. Southern Command suspended the operation for eight weeks after earthquakes rocked parts of Venezuela. Military leaders have said in recent weeks that the new operation would differ from its predecessor in at least two fundamental ways: It will involve closer coordination with regional allies and it will pursue more aggressive strategies to stem the flow of drugs, including land-based operations in places like Panama and Ecuador, where U.S. warships will be allowed operate from local ports. Kaine said he welcomes the collaboration with 18 regional partners, which he said he hoped would act as a check on the "administration's worst instincts." Marine Corps General Francis Donovan, the commander of Southern Command, said earlier this month that the purpose of Operation Joint Task Force-Western Hemisphere is to "take the fight to the enemy." SOUTHCOM officials said the latest strikes build on what they call "the successes of Operation Southern Spear, which employed precise kinetic strikes and maritime interdiction operations to disrupt illicit trafficking and undermine entrenched criminal networks." Donovan visited Colombia and Ecuador last week, promoting the countries' cooperation with the U.S. anti-narcotics campaign. In a Friday night strike, U.S. sailors and Marines interdicted what SOUTHCOM called "a floating refueling station" that supported an alleged narcoterrorist organization. In coordination with the Ecuadorian government, U.S. forces cleared the vessel of individuals, who "were safely escorted to Ecuador," SOUTHCOM said on X. "Once cleared, U.S. forces sank the vessel," the command said. 'Boat strikes aren't the answer' A chief concern among many congressional Democrats is whether or not the strikes have made a meaningful impact on the influx of drugs entering the U.S. As part of its quarterly reporting functions, the Pentagon's internal watchdog wrote that Southern Command told oversight authorities it could not provide a "publicly releasable" measure for the effectiveness of the boat strike campaign on cartels' abilities to transport drugs to the U.S. The watchdog also said in its June report that the Pentagon's mission statement in Southern Spear was "classified." Some senior military leaders have themselves acknowledged the limitations of the boat strikes. During a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee in March, Donovan said that "kinetic strikes will be one of the many tools, and probably not the most effective tool" in the counternarcotics mission. Pressed by Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Az., on whether the boat strike campaign "is actually degrading cartel operations rather than simply destroying some low-level assets and ... displacing some trafficking routes," Donovan said he "couldn't provide ... measures of effectiveness." "Partner nations that I talked to had this exact same conversation," Donovan told Kelly. Drug cartels, in the meantime, have adjusted to the threat to vessels on the water, increasingly ferrying narcotics via unmanned semisubmersibles -- drone submarines that navigate autonomously -- a former intelligence official told ABC News. A senior U.S. official also said cartels have begun utilizing new smuggling routes. Boats are increasingly keeping closer to land borders, avoiding international waters where they could become targets of the strike campaign, said the official, who is familiar with the thinking of governments in the region. "Looking forward, senator, the boat strikes aren't the answer," Donovan told Kelly in his March appearance, saying that the campaign's future operations would look to disrupt the entire system of trafficking networks. The military's pivot to land strikes is in part a recognition that it's only a matter of time before cartels reinvent their methods to smuggle drugs, said the former intelligence official, who is familiar with the scope of the U.S. operation. The inspector general's report also said that fentanyl, the deadliest drug in the United States, is not among the targets of the boat strike campaign -- undermining one of President Trump's most common refrains in promoting the strikes. "The DEA said that fentanyl is neither produced in nor trafficked through any of the countries or shipping lanes in the [Southern Spear area of responsibility]," the report said. 'It's a beautiful day for fishing' Despite concerns over the legality of the strikes, the administration has not presented evidence that the targets of the attacks were ferrying drugs, according to officials. Many family members of the victims have steadfastly denied that their loved ones bore any ties to cartels or drug smugglers. Relatives of two Trinidadian nationals, Chad Joseph and Rishi Somaroo, who were killed in an October 2025 U.S. military strike on a small boat, filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit alleging the strike violated international and domestic law. According to the court filing and statements from their families, both victims were working-class nationals of Trinidad and Tobago who frequently traveled to neighboring Venezuela for fishing and agricultural labor. Jeff Stein, the ACLU lawyer representing the two Trinidadian families, said his clients "were killed while making the journey home to see their loved ones." The Trump administration filed a motion in June to dismiss the ACLU lawsuit, arguing the federal court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case. The family of a Colombian fisherman who died in a U.S. military boat strike in September filed a formal complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, alleging that the U.S. government unlawfully killed him. "Alejandro Carranza was a Colombian fisherman with a family. He went out one day to fish for tuna and marlin, and the last thing he said to his family was, 'It's a beautiful day for fishing,'" Dan Kovalik, the Carranza family's lawyer, told ABC News. "That's the last they ever heard from him, because the boat he was on with two other people was blown up by the United States," Kovalik said. A White House spokesperson said that all the strikes the government has carried out "have been against designated narcoterrorists."

The United States military said it struck a suspected drug-trafficking boat in the Pacific Ocean, killing two people. In a Monday post on X, US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said Sunday’s strike targeted a vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific. Recommended Stories list of 3 items- list 1 of 3Ukraine’s allies convene in Kyiv as Zelenskyy seeks air defence boost - list 2 of 3The right to health in Gaza is now a privilege - list 3 of 3‘Barrel bomb mufti’ Ahmad Hassoun handed life sentence in Syria trial “Confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel’s active involvement in narco-trafficking,” SOUTHCOM added. “This operation is a clear and decisive reminder that SOUTHCOM is taking the fight directly to the cartels.” Grainy, black-and-white video accompanying the post appeared to show a boat moving through the water immediately before a large explosion. The post stated that under the direction of SOUTHCOM Commander General Francis L. Donovan, the Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere executed a lethal kinetic strike on the low-profile vessel. “We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists — disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership and eliminating cartel terror across the region,” Donovan was quoted as saying. “Let me be clear, we will not permit narco-terrorists to operate with impunity in the Western Hemisphere, nor will we allow their deadly poison to reach American communities. This operation is a powerful demonstration of our lethal precision, overwhelming capability, and absolute resolve to protect the U.S. homeland.” The US military launched Operation Southern Spear in early September, with President Donald Trump arguing that Washington is effectively at war with Latin American drug cartels. Since then, more than 200 people have been killed in strikes across the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, according to a tally by the AFP news agency. However, the Trump administration has not provided definitive evidence that the targeted vessels were involved in drug trafficking. Legal experts and rights groups warn that the attacks could amount to extrajudicial killings. The Pentagon’s inspector general said in May that it would review whether the military followed standard targeting procedures, though the evaluation will not examine the legal authority behind the strikes.

U.S. forces reported this Monday a new attack the day before against a “low-profile” vessel operating on well-known drug-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific, in which two people were killed. The U.S. Southern Command (Southcom) stated on X that it based its assessment on “confirmed intelligence information revealing the vessel’s active involvement in drug-trafficking activities.” The operation resulted in “the deaths of two narco-terrorists,” the military command added in a post accompanied by a declassified video showing a small boat exploding into flames after being struck. “We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists: disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership structures, and eliminating the terror that cartels sow across the region,” said Southcom commander Francis Donovan. Donovan stressed that this is “a decisive demonstration” of lethal precision, overwhelming capability, and the “absolute determination to protect the United States national territory.” The administration of President Donald Trump launched in September 2025 a regional campaign against drug trafficking, first in Caribbean waters and then extended to the Eastern Pacific. With this new operation, the offensive has now involved nearly 70 vessels attacked and more than 220 people killed, according to media tallies. The United Nations and human rights organizations have labeled these attacks as “extrajudicial executions” and have denounced that victims include fishermen and fuel smugglers. Official data published by The Washington Post last July warned that these attacks have not slowed cocaine flow into the United States. Listen LIVE Caracol Radio: The iframe code has been copied to the clipboard Direct Live Listen to the audio.

The United States military said Monday it carried out a strike on an in the Pacific Ocean, killing two people.U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said in a post on X that the strike, which took place Sunday, targeted a vessel "operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific." "Confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel's active involvement in narco-trafficking," it added. "This operation is a clear and decisive reminder that SOUTHCOM is taking the fight directly to the cartels," SOUTHCOM said. Grainy black-and-white video footage accompanying the post showed a boat moving through the water before a large explosion. The military did not identify the style of boat but it appears to be a long semi-submersible vessel, sometimes called a "narco sub." Narco subs, which cannot go fully underwater, are popular among international drug traffickers as they can sometimes elude detection by law enforcement. "We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists — disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region," Gen. Francis L. Donovan said in a statement Monday. The latest strike comes days after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the U.S. would extend its offensive to land across multiple Latin American countries. The secretary said during a visit to Panama that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil. Guatemala denied reaching such an agreement. Ecuador launched similar missions with the U.S. in March. The U.S. military launched operation "Southern Spear" last September, with President Trump arguing Washington is effectively at war with drug cartels operating out of Latin America. Since then, more than 200 people have been killed in strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. The Trump administration has not provided definitive evidence that the vessels it has been striking are involved in drug trafficking. Critics of the strikes have questioned the overall legality as well as their effectiveness. Part of the argument has been that the fentanyl behind many fatal U.S. drug overdoses is typically trafficked over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India. U.S. lawmakers have previously demanded that the Pentagon release "unedited video" of the very first strike that the military conducted after reports emerged that the U.S. chose to conduct a follow-on strike on survivors of its initial attack. Some lawmakers have questioned whether that follow-on strike constituted a war crime. The Defense Department and several congressional Republicans have insisted the survivors may have still been in the fight, warranting the follow-on strike. The Pentagon's watchdog said in May that it planned to look into whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework when carrying out the strikes. However, the evaluation is focused specifically on what's known as the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle and not on the legality of the strikes, the inspector general's office said. In June, the U.S. military conducted a strike in the Caribbean against a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the region, killing two people and leaving six survivors.

The US military said early Monday it struck an alleged drug trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific, marking the first known strike in more than two months. “Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific,” US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said in a statement on X. Two people were killed in the strike on Sunday, according to SOUTHCOM. The strikes are believed to be the first since June 21. It was not clear why the strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific paused, as CNN has reported. Prior to the pause, the US military had destroyed at least 67 vessels and killed at least 221 people since the “Operation Southern Spear” campaign began in September 2025, according to official announcements and CNN’s analysis of search and rescue efforts. The administration has told Congress the US is in an “armed conflict” against drug cartels, labeling those killed “unlawful combatants” and claiming the ability to engage in lethal strikes without judicial review due to a classified Justice Department finding. Some members of Congress as well as human rights groups have questioned that finding and argued that potential drug traffickers should face prosecution, as had been the policy of interdiction carried out by the US before President Donald Trump took office. Law enforcement officials and experts have also expressed skepticism over the Trump administration’s strategy and its effectiveness at bringing meaningful change to the region’s drug trade. In its statement Monday, SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan reiterated the US military’s commitment to combating the drug trade, saying: “We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists – disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region.” “This operation is a powerful demonstration of our lethal precision, overwhelming capability, and absolute resolve to protect the U.S. homeland,” Donovan said in the post. The official mission for Operation Southern Spear is classified, according to a May 20 report from the Pentagon’s inspector general office. Earlier this month, Sen. Tim Kaine told the White House, following “a careful review” of classified information he has seen so far, that strikes have likely illegally killed “individuals who are not involved in narcotrafficking.” The Virginia Democrat, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, urged Trump to “examine the circumstances of these strikes” and cease what he called an “illegal, costly and ineffective” operation. This story has been updated with additional information. CNN’s Davis Winkie and Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.

One year after the United States began bombing vessels suspected of transporting drugs in the Caribbean and the Pacific, the Donald Trump administration’s offensive killed at least 227 people, yet so far shows no clear signs of reducing the supply of illicit substances in the American market. Cocaine prices remain at levels similar to those before the attacks, border seizures have not decreased, and authorities acknowledge that traffickers are adapting routes and means of transport to evade U.S. forces. According to the Trump administration, the strategy is working. The Pentagon told Congress that the movement of drug-carrying vessels fell 20% in the Caribbean and 25% in the Eastern Pacific, although the U.S. Southern Command, the military region responsible for Latin America and the Caribbean, does not disclose efficacy metrics. Trump even spoke of a 98.2% drop in maritime trafficking and claimed that destroying each ship saves 25,000 lives, without presenting evidence. According to a WOLA report (Washington Office on Latin America), there are, so far, no signs of cocaine shortages in the U.S. In May, the drug cost $60 to $100 per gram in several cities, a level similar to before the attacks, according to North Carolina University researcher Nabarun Dasgupta. Meanwhile, CBP seizures rose from 25,686 kg in the ten months before the offensive to 26,166 kg in the ten months after, an increase of 2%. The indicator does not equal the volume that enters the country, but it also does not indicate a shortage. American authorities, however, acknowledge that traffickers are adapting their routes. Joseph Humire, a senior official in the Department of Defense, said that part of the flow shifted eastward, via Venezuela and Guyana toward Suriname. General Francis Donovan, head of U.S. Southern Command, also reported greater movement through the Pacific, by air traffic and using containers. “We know the enemy is adapting to our actions,” he said. In another congressional testimony, Donovan said that attacks on vessels “are not the answer” nor “the most effective tool” in a campaign against drug trafficking. Still, Washington shows no signs of abandoning the strategy. At the end of August, Southern Command resumed bombing targets in the waters of South America after two months of a truce—the longest hiatus since the campaign began, according to Acled (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project). Before that, the organization had recorded at least one bombardment per month. The pause occurred shortly after a Pentagon oversight body opened an investigation to determine if the military personnel involved in the attacks followed U.S. guidelines. In December, for example, the Washington Post stated that, in the first attack, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gave a verbal order to “kill everyone” aboard. Earlier, The Intercept had already revealed that, in that same case, survivors were killed in a second bombing, even though international law protects wounded combatants even in wartime, which does not even occur in South America. With this new offensive, the Trump administration appears to signal that it will continue betting on this strategy now that it has a regional alliance group. The restart occurred in a context of expanding regional cooperation against drug trafficking. Colombia and Ecuador authorized joint operations with the U.S. and join the Americas Shield, a Trump-led alliance that Peru is also due to join. Among the identified targets are Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41, from a fishing community in Trinidad and Tobago. According to WOLA, Joseph worked in fishing and agriculture in Venezuela, and Samaroo on a dairy farm. The two warned their partners who were returning home before dying on October 14, 2025. WOLA states that some of the identified people apparently had no known involvement with drug trafficking, while others operated at lower levels of the chain, often as crew members recruited in poor coastal communities. There are also people with clearer involvement in organized crime. “We don’t know. That’s part of the problem,” Wells Dixon, a lawyer for the CCR (Center for Constitutional Rights), told Folha when asked who the dead are. According to Dixon, the government says the targets are members of cartels designated as foreign terrorist organizations, but it has not provided elements that would allow verification of the accusation in most cases. “We are witnessing the systematic attack and the death of individuals whose identities have not been established, nor the basis for the use of military force,” he said. Joseph and Samaroo are also at the center of an attempt to hold the government accountable in court. Relatives of the two filed suit against the United States, represented, among others, by the CCR and the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). Dixon, who is not directly involved in the case, questions the legal basis of the operation. According to him, designating a cartel as a foreign terrorist organization does not, by itself, authorize the president to employ military force against its members. The government states that the U.S. is in armed conflict against these groups, which would allow treating them as military targets under certain circumstances. Dixon challenges this interpretation. “The U.S. is not at war with drug trafficking suspects in the Caribbean or Pacific,” he said. In his view, deaths should be analyzed under international human rights standards. Dixon classifies the attacks as extrajudicial executions and rejects describing them as war crimes precisely because he believes there is no armed conflict. “They are not war crimes, they are murders,” he said. Before the campaign, suspects on vessels were intercepted by the Coast Guard and brought to justice. WOLA states that these operations also allow gathering information to reach the upper levels of criminal organizations. Dixon says Congress could still try to restrict the operation, by cutting its funding and insisting on the legal opinions that justify it, the orders transmitted to the Armed Forces, and the complete recordings of the attacks. The lawyer also sees precedents of the policy in previous governments. He cites “signature strikes,” started at the end of George W. Bush’s administration and expanded under Barack Obama, in which unidentified people could be attacked based on behavior patterns associated with terrorism. He notes there are differences between the policies, but states: “Earlier governments opened the door to what is happening now, and President Trump drove a truck through that door.”

- They warned that Washington is unilaterally killing people without legal basis or due process and reminded that international law does not allow governments to kill presumed criminals simply for being at sea, in the same way that police cannot summarily execute people on streets. Experts from the United Nations urged the United States this Tuesday to put an end to what they termed killings at sea, after at least 223 people died in the last year in U.S. airstrikes against vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean. According to the experts, since September 2, 2025, the U.S. Army has attacked at least 68 vessels in international waters. In most cases, all people on board died, while in others there were reports of missing persons. Washington has justified the operations by claiming that the vessels were trafficking drugs on behalf of organizations regarded as terrorist under U.S. law. However, the experts rejected the legal arguments presented by the Government of the United States. “These deaths, carried out systematically, gravely violate the fundamental obligation to respect the right to life,” they stated. Calling it war does not make it a war. The experts stressed that international law does not permit governments to kill presumed criminals simply for being at sea, in the same way that police cannot summarily execute people in the streets within U.S. territory. They also rejected that the United States could invoke the right to self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. According to the experts, drug cartels and criminal gangs are not carrying out armed attacks against the United States, and therefore the fight against drug trafficking should be considered a law enforcement issue and not an armed conflict. “Calling it war does not make it a war,” they noted. The experts further stated that there is no armed conflict under international humanitarian law, as there are no military confrontations between two parties. In their view, the United States is unilaterally killing people without legal basis or due process. The alleged drug traffickers are not combatants, and the deaths recorded should be considered extrajudicial and illegal executions. International human rights law, which also applies at sea, provides that lethal force may only be used in self-defense or in defense of others and only when strictly necessary and proportional to prevent an imminent threat to life. The experts noted that the United States has not claimed the existence of such a threat, and that the U.S. authorities themselves indicated they could have intercepted the vessels but chose not to. They also recalled that the right to life obliges States to take prompt measures to search for, rescue, and provide medical assistance to people endangered by such operations. Victims and their families have the right to reparations. International maritime law also demands, according to the experts, a response grounded in the application of law rather than the use of military means. They warned that the attacks could constitute crimes against maritime security, which would allow other countries to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators. They also noted that several additional vessels have disappeared under suspicious circumstances. Therefore, they called for rapid, independent, impartial, and transparent investigations into all alleged violations of the right to life, as well as accountability for those responsible, including military and civilian leadership. The victims and their families, they affirmed, have the right to full redress, including compensation and guarantees that these events will not be repeated. The experts also called on other States not to collaborate in possible violations of the right to life, for example by sharing intelligence or making military assets available to the United States. At the same time, they acknowledged that organized violence linked to drug trafficking poses a threat to security and the right to life, but insisted that the response must fully respect international law. Strengthening judicial and police cooperation, controlling arms, and preventing organized crime and drug use through public health, education, and development policies are, in their view, some of the alternatives to effectively combat drug trafficking. *The experts: - Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the fight against terrorism - Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions - George Katrougalos, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order - Gabriella Citroni (Chairperson-Rapporteur), Grażyna Baranowska (Vice-Chairperson), Aua Baldé, Ana Lorena Delgadillo Pérez, Mohammed Al-Obaidi, Working Group on Enforced or Disappearance - The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts, and Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Collectively, these experts are known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. The special procedures mandate holders serve in a voluntary capacity; they are not United Nations staff and do not receive remuneration for their work. While the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights acts as the secretariat for the special procedures, the experts perform their functions in their personal capacity and are independent of any government or organization, including the Office of the High Commissioner and the United Nations. The views expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the United Nations or the Office of the High Commissioner. SOURCE: UN

Today marks a fullyearthat the Trump administration has used military aircraft and weapons to destroy suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing hundreds of alleged traffickers to date. Officials portray these strikes as a tougher approach to combating narcotics trafficking. In reality, they represent something far more troubling: an unlawful expansion of military force into what has long been—and should remain—a law enforcement mission. This policy is legally unsound, strategically counterproductive, and morally corrosive. It weakens the international partnerships that have underpinned successful maritime drug interdiction for decades while placing American servicemembers in the impossible position of carrying out actions that may conflict with the law and their own personal and professional ethics. Drug smugglers are criminals—not enemy combatants—and treating them as military targets undermines both the rule of law and America’s credibility abroad. Absent an armed conflict, suspected traffickers cannot lawfully be treated as combatants. Labeling them military targets stretches domestic and international law beyond recognition. Nor can the government simply rely on domestic criminal law.The Posse Comitatus Actgenerally prohibits the Department of Defense from conducting civilian law enforcement, which is precisely why Congress has long relied on the Coast Guard—operating under the Department of Homeland Security withstatutory law enforcement authority—to conduct maritime counter-drug operations. International law also provides awell-established frameworkfor these missions. The United States has spent decades building agreements with partner nations that allow the Coast Guard to verify vessel nationality, board suspect vessels, collect evidence, and prosecute traffickers while respecting national sovereignty. These partnerships have made the United States the world’s leading maritime counter-drug force. As retired U.S. Coast Guard senior officers with deep experience in maritime law enforcement operations, coordination, and policy, we are proud of those efforts and stand by them. The new approach abandons that proven model in favor of lethal strikes that destroy not only vessels but also the evidence and intelligence needed to dismantle criminal organizations. Dead suspects cannot be questioned. Destroyed vessels cannot be searched. Prosecutors cannot build cases from evidence that no longer exists. Rather than dismantling cartels, the strategy risks eliminating only replaceable operators while leaving the criminal networks that recruit, finance, and direct them intact. Nor is there compelling evidence that the strategy is succeeding.Public reportingindicates that while trafficking routes briefly shifted and cocaine prices temporarily fluctuated, the availability, purity, and price of cocaine in the United States have largely returned to pre-operation levels. If those indicators are correct, the campaign has achieved little lasting strategic effect despite its extraordinary use of military force. The policy also threatens relationships that have taken decades to build. Maritime law enforcement depends on intelligence sharing, mutual trust, and legal cooperation among partner nations. Already, theUnited Kingdom,Canada, and theNetherlandshave curtailed intelligence sharing with the United States or put caveats on the use of the intelligence they provide because of these unlawful strikes. It remains unclear to what extent governments in the region are consulted before individual strikes. If those relationships erode, the United States risks sacrificing the very alliances that have made successful maritime interdiction possible. Beyond the legal and strategic concerns lies an equally important moral one. America’s sea services have long operated under a simple principle: preserve life at sea whenever possible.Marinersrescue people in distressregardless ofnationalityorcircumstance. That ethic predatesmodern international lawand remains central to professional maritime service. Yet publicly reported accounts indicate that, in at least one instance, two survivors of a strike were subsequently killed while defenseless and adrift. If accurate, such actions would represent a profound departure fromlongstanding humanitarian principles and the values American servicemembersswear to uphold. The burden falls most heavily on those ordered to carry out these operations. Servicemembers accept that lawful military service may require the use of deadly force. But policies that blur the line between military operations and law enforcement place them in an impossible position, forcing them to rely on intelligence assessments to kill suspects, rather than arrests, evidence collection, and judicial process to take them out of the drug trade. Even when force is lawful, taking a life can leavelasting psychological scars. Asking military personnel to conduct operations of questionable legality and uncertain strategic value risks inflicting unnecessary moral injury on the very people entrusted with defending the nation. America faces a serious drug trafficking problem, and maritime interdiction remains an essential part of addressing it. But abandoning the rule of law in favor of military targeting will not solve that problem. The United States already possesses an effective model. For decades, the Coast Guard, working alongside the Department of Defense and international partners, has intercepted massive quantities of narcotics, gathered critical intelligence, and helped dismantle transnational criminal organizations while respecting domestic law, international law, and the sovereignty of partner nations. That system was not perfect, but it was lawful, credible, and strategically effective. Replacing it with military strikes that raise profound legal questions, undermine international cooperation, and expose servicemembers to unnecessary moral and legal risk is not a demonstration of strength. It is a departure from the principles that have long distinguished the United States from its adversaries. The architects of this policy should ultimately be held accountable—not through the lawlessness this strategy embraces, but through the rule of law they have chosen to disregard. America can combat drug trafficking without abandoning the legal principles, alliances, and moral standards that have made its maritime forces respected around the world. The authors are retired U.S. Coast Guard senior officers with extensive experience in maritime law enforcement, operations, and policy. The views expressed are their own. Stephen Chamberlin (LinkedIn) retired as a Coast Guard Captain in 2015. He spent most of that time providing oversight for Search and Rescue and Law Enforcement operations, and finished as the Commanding Officer of a multi-agency intelligence unit. Leanne Lusk, MBA, PMP (LinkedIn), is President of Antarctic Science Alliance, LLC and an Executive Counselor to the Arctic Domain Awareness Center (ADAC-ARCTIC) at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Lusk retired from active duty in 2023 as a Coast Guard Captain, following more than 25 years conducting and managing maritime search and rescue, law enforcement and homeland security operations. Brian McNamara (LinkedIn) is a Professor of Practice with Tulane University's John Lewis Public Administration Program. McNamara retired from the U.S. Coast Guard at the rank of Commander after more than 20 years on active duty.

(AP) - U.S. forces have struck another vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing two people the Pentagon says were trafficking drugs. The U.S. Southern Command announced the strike in a social media post early Monday. The death toll from the Trump administration’s campaign of bombing boats off Latin America’s Caribbean coast and in the eastern Pacific now exceeds 210 after more than 60 strikes. The Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere “executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific.” Intelligence confirmed the vessel was carrying illegal drugs, the statement said. “We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists -- disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region,” said Gen. Francis Donovan, who leads U.S. Southern Command. The latest strike comes days after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the U.S. would extend its offensive to land across multiple Latin American countries. The secretary said during a visit to Panama that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil. Guatemala denied reaching such an agreement. Ecuador launched similar missions with the U.S. in March. Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The United States Armed Forces carried out an attack on a vessel allegedly engaged in drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific, in an operation that left two people dead and marks the first action of its kind reported in more than two months. The United States Southern Command reported early Monday that the Western Hemisphere Joint Task Force carried out a “lethal kinetic strike” against a low-profile vessel, which authorities said was traveling on routes used for drug trafficking. The attack occurred in an area used by drug-trafficking routes. According to the Southern Command, the vessel operated along drug-trafficking routes established in the eastern Pacific. The operation left two people dead, according to information published by SOUTHCOM. U.S. authorities did not initially provide further details about the identities of the deceased, the cargo the vessel carried, or the criminal organization it allegedly belonged to. The commander of the Southern Command, General Francis L. Donovan, stated that American forces will continue acting against drug-trafficking organizations in the region. “We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on the narco-terrorists, disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region,” Donovan said. It is the first attack of this kind since June Sunday’s operation would be the first action reported since June 21 against vessels allegedly linked to drug trafficking in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific. It is not clear why this type of operation was suspended for more than two months. Before the pause, U.S. forces had destroyed at least 67 vessels and caused the deaths of at least 221 people since the start of the campaign known as Operation Southern Spear in September 2025, according to official announcements and CNN analyses of search-and-rescue operations. Trump’s strategy faces legal questions The Donald Trump administration has informed Congress that the United States is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. Under that interpretation, the government regards those attacked as “illegal combatants” and maintains that the Armed Forces have authority to carry out lethal operations without the judicial oversight that existed under the previous anti-drug interdiction policy. The position is based on a classified determination by the Department of Justice. However, members of Congress, human rights organizations, police officials, and experts have questioned the legality and effectiveness of this strategy. Critics argue that the alleged drug traffickers should be detained and subjected to judicial proceedings, rather than attacked directly. U.S. Senator raises concerns about possible illegal deaths The operations have also prompted questions within the U.S. Congress itself. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told the White House in early August that after reviewing classified information he believes it is likely that some of the attacks caused the deaths of people not involved in drug trafficking activities. Kaine asked Trump to review the circumstances of the operations and called the campaign “illegal, costly, and ineffective.” The U.S. government, for its part, maintains that the operations are part of its strategy to combat groups it considers linked to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism. The mission of Operation Southern Spear remains classified The official mission of Operation Southern Spear remains classified, according to a May 20 report by the Pentagon Inspector General’s Office. The Southern Command has not publicly revealed all details about the scope of the operation, though Donovan framed Sunday’s attack as a demonstration of American military capabilities. “This operation is a powerful demonstration of our lethal precision, our overwhelming capability, and our unwavering determination to defend the national territory of the United States,” he said. Q&A block What happened to the vessel attacked by the United States? U.S. Armed Forces attacked on Sunday a low-profile vessel that, according to the Southern Command, operated on a route used for drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific. Two people died in the operation. When was the last U.S. attack on a vessel before this one? Sunday’s attack would be the first of its kind reported since June 21, 2026, after a pause of more than two months in operations against vessels in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific. What is Operation Southern Spear? Operation Southern Spear is the U.S. campaign against organizations linked to drug trafficking that began in September 2025. Before the pause in operations, the United States had destroyed at least 67 vessels and caused the death of at least 221 people. Why are attacks on supposed drug traffickers questioned? Members of Congress and human rights organizations question the decision to use lethal attacks instead of detaining and prosecuting suspects. There are also doubts about whether some of the people killed were actually involved in drug trafficking. What has the Trump administration said about these operations? The administration maintains that the United States is in an “armed conflict” with cartels and regards the targets of these operations as illegal combatants. The government asserts that it has the authority to carry out lethal attacks based on a classified DoJ determination.

US attacked alleged narco vessel in the Pacific: Two people died after explosion What happened? The United States military announced on Monday that it carried out an attack against an alleged vessel used for drug trafficking in the Pacific Ocean, in which two people died. What did the US report? The United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) stated in a post on X that the attack, carried out Sunday, targeted a vessel "that operated along drug trafficking routes established in the eastern Pacific." "Intelligence information confirmed the vessel's active involvement in narcotics trafficking," it added. Go to the next note "This operation is a clear and decisive reminder that SOUTHCOM is taking the fight directly to the cartels," the command said. The black-and-white images accompanying the post showed a vessel moving through the water before a large explosion. President Donald Trump maintains that Washington is, in practice, at war with the drug cartels that operate from Latin America. More than 200 people have died in attacks in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, according to an AFP tally. Trump's administration has not provided conclusive evidence that the attacked vessels were involved in drug trafficking. Legal experts and human rights organizations note that these attacks could constitute extrajudicial executions. "This operation is a clear and decisive reminder that SOUTHCOM is taking the fight directly to the cartels." — U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) August 24, 2026 On August 23, under #SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan’s direction, Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel… pic.twitter.com/aIw1qn36gd Related notes

U.S. forces have struck another vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people accused of trafficking drugs, the Department of Defense said Monday, in the first attack announced in about two months. The death toll in the nearly yearlong U.S. campaign of bombing boats allegedly trafficking drugs now exceeds 210 after more than 60 strikes off Latin America’s Caribbean coast and in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Forces “executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narcotrafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific,” U.S. Southern Command said on social media. As with most of the military’s statements on strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, the Pentagon did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. It is the first strike since powerful back-to-back June 24 earthquakes that killed thousands of people. “We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists — disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region,” said Gen. Francis Donovan, who leads U.S. Southern Command. The latest strike comes as the Trump administration pursues deals with allied nations to extend its offensive to land across multiple Latin American countries. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a visit to Panama this month that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil. Guatemala denied reaching such a deal. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Ecuador launched similar missions with the U.S. in March. President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.” Critics have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the U.S. over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The strikes, which began in early September, have drawn intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars. The Pentagon’s watchdog said in May that it plans to look into whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework when carrying out the strikes. However, the evaluation is focused specifically on what’s known as the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle and not on the legality of the strikes, the inspector general’s office said.

US strikes vessel in eastern Pacific, killing 2 people in first attack in months Forces ‘executed a lethal kinetic strike’ on a vessel ‘operating along established narcotrafficking routes’, said US Southern Command US forces have struck another vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people accused of trafficking drugs, the US military said on Monday, in the first attack announced in about two months. The death toll in the nearly year-long US campaign of bombing boats allegedly trafficking drugs now exceeds 210 after more than 60 strikes off Latin America’s Caribbean coast and in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Forces “executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narcotrafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific”, US Southern Command said on social media. As with most of the military’s statements on strikes in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea, the Pentagon did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. It is the first strike since powerful back-to-back June 24 earthquakes that killed thousands of people. “We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists – disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership and eliminating cartel terror across the region,” said General Francis Donovan, who leads US Southern Command. The latest strike comes as the Trump administration pursues deals with allied nations to extend its offensive to land across multiple Latin American countries. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a visit to Panama this month that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the US to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil. Guatemala denied reaching such a deal.

The U.S. military killed two people in a strike Sunday against a suspected drug boat in the Eastern Pacific, U.S. Southern Command announced. The death toll from the campaign of bombing boats off Latin America’s Caribbean coast and in the Eastern Pacific now exceeds 210 after more than 60 strikes. “Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narcotrafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific,” SOUTHCOM said in a statement Monday. “Confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel’s active involvement in narco-trafficking. The operation killed two narco-terrorists.” It was the first reported strike in the region in two months. “We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists — disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region,” said Gen. Francis Donovan, who leads U.S. Southern Command. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week during a visit to Panama that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil.

The US Southern Command said on Monday it carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operating in the eastern Pacific, killing two on board. "Confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel's active involvement in narco-trafficking. The operation killed two narco-terrorists," SOUTHCOM said in a post on X/Twitter. "We will not permit narco-terrorists to operate with impunity in the Western Hemisphere, nor will we allow their deadly poison to reach American communities. This operation is a powerful demonstration of our lethal precision, overwhelming capability, and absolute resolve to protect the US homeland," said SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan. At least a dozen such strikes have been carried out in the waters surrounding the United States in the past year. Precedent of lethal force against 'narco-terrorists' set during Trump administration The US military began using lethal force against drug cartels during the second Trump administration, after they were classified as unlawful combatants. The first strike occurred on September 1, 2025, when the US Navy launched an airstrike on a vessel in the southern Caribbean suspected of carrying drug traffickers, killing all 11 occupants. More recently, the US military struck a vessel in the Caribbean, killing two people, alleging that the vessel was operated by "designated terrorist organizations" that it did not identify. Some rights groups condemned the attacks as "extrajudicial killings." The use of the military to attack suspected drug vessels represents a stark departure from how the US has historically dealt with such vessels. Jonah Davidov contributed to this report.

Supported by U.S. Military Kills 2 People in Attack on Boat in Pacific The United States has killed at least 223 people since its campaign of boat strikes began nearly a year ago. The U.S. military killed two men in a strike against a boat in the eastern Pacific that it said was transporting narcotics, U.S. Southern Command announced early Monday. It was the first such strike by the military since June 21. The United States began a campaign of boat strikes last year in the run-up to the military operation that seized Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela. The military has continued the operations in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, killing at least 223 people in 67 strikes that it said were involved in the narcotics trade. But narcotics experts say the boat strikes have failed to slow the smuggling of cocaine from South America to the United States. According to Brown University, the costs of the operation were at $4.7 billion as of March 31. Legal specialists also have said that the strikes are illegal extrajudicial killings because the military is not permitted to deliberately target civilians — even suspected criminals — who do not pose an imminent threat of violence. Southern Command provided little detail about the strike that took place on Sunday but noted that intelligence reports said the vessel was trafficking narcotics and traveling on a route used by drug smugglers. “Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific,” Southern Command said in a statement, referring to a new military unit set up to expand the Pentagon’s war against drugs in cooperation with regional allies. Gen. Francis L. Donovan, the head of Southern Command, said in the statement on social media announcing the strike, “When I ordered the establishment of Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere, it was precisely for this purpose: to accelerate, synchronize, and execute lethal actions against these destabilizing narco-terrorist networks.” Southern Command did not explain the two-month lull in strikes since an attack on a boat in the Caribbean killed eight people on June 21. Military officials have attributed the pause at least in part to planes and other equipment being diverted to help victims of the recent earthquake in Venezuela. The Trump administration has in recent months stepped up its cooperation with allies across Latin America to combat the drug trade. It created the coalition, part of the regional Shield of the Americas alliance, and convened its first meeting in March. That month, Ecuador and the United States launched joint military operations against designated terrorist groups. In May, the Pentagon pressed Guatemala to agree to joint U.S. airstrikes and other military action inside its borders to target suspected drug groups. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier this month that Honduras and Colombia had also agreed to allow joint operations. Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times. He has reported on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism for more than three decades. Contact him securely on Signal: @ericschmitt.36. Related Content Advertisement

Aug. 24 (UPI) --The U.S. military said on Monday that it launched an airstrike on an alleged drug trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people. The strike was launched on Sunday, U.S. Southern Commandsaid in a statementon social media. It is believed to be the first airstrike the military has launched on alleged maritime drug trafficking routes since June 21. The military has launched strikes on at least 67 vessels and killed at least 221 people as part of its campaign against drug trafficking vessels since September. However, it has been disputed that some of the victims of these strikes were not involved in any drug trafficking activities. Sen.Tim Kaine, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee, told the White House earlier this month that a review of classified information has found the strikes have likely, illegally, killed "individuals who are not involved in narcotrafficking." Lawmakers and human rights organizations have argued that those suspected of drug trafficking should face prosecution, not extrajudicial killing. "Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific," SOUTHCOM said in a statement on Sunday. As of March, the U.S. military's operation targeting the maritime drug trade cost about$4.7 billion, the Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University reported. Read MoreUkrainian drone strikes target Russian online retailer OzonNetanyahu, Katz issue threat to Hamas over kites landing in IsraelThailand hit with dozens of coordinated arsons, bombs

The U.S. military said Monday that it carried out a strike on another vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people accused of trafficking drugs in the first such attack announced in about two months. The death toll in the nearly yearlong U.S. campaign of bombing boats allegedly trafficking drugs now exceeds 210 after more than 60 strikes off Latin America’s Caribbean coast and in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Recommended Videos Forces “executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narcotrafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific,” U.S. Southern Command said on social media. As with most of the military’s statements on strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, the Pentagon did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. The strike on Sunday was the first since powerful back-to-back June 24 earthquakes that killed thousands of people. “We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists — disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region,” said Gen. Francis Donovan, who leads U.S. Southern Command. The latest strike comes as the Trump administration pursues deals with allied nations to extend its offensive to land across multiple Latin American countries. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a visit to Panama this month that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil. Guatemala denied reaching such a deal. Ecuador launched similar missions with the U.S. in March. President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.” Critics have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the U.S. over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India. The strikes, which began in early September, have drawn intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars. The Pentagon’s watchdog said in May that it plans to look into whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework when carrying out the strikes. However, the evaluation is focused specifically on what’s known as the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle and not on the legality of the strikes, the inspector general’s office said.