The Pentagon has conducted its 21st known strike on an alleged drug-trafficking vessel, killing three people aboard, US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said Sunday.
In a statement posted on social media, SOUTHCOM said intelligence confirmed the targeted boat “was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics.”
“Three male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed,” the command said, adding that the strike took place in international waters in the Eastern Pacific.
This latest attack brings the reported death toll to 83 from US military strikes on suspected drug boats since the lethal campaign began. CNN has previously reported that the operation involves a mix of fighter jets, drones and gunships, with officials arguing the strikes are intended to disrupt the flow of narcotics into the United States by destroying vessels at sea and killing alleged traffickers.
The 21st strike comes just days after a Defense Department official disclosed that the US had carried out its 20th strike on a suspected drug-smuggling craft last week.
The Justice Department has told Congress the administration does not need additional authorization to conduct the strikes, taking the position that existing legal authorities are sufficient. But some legal experts and human-rights advocates have warned that the campaign could violate US and international law, noting that the targets are not part of an armed conflict in the traditional sense and are often destroyed without attempts at capture.
The operation is also straining relations with key partners. The United Kingdom has reportedly stopped sharing intelligence with Washington on suspected trafficking vessels over fears that doing so could make it complicit in strikes it views as illegal.
Similarly, the president of Colombia announced last week that he had ordered a halt to his country’s intelligence cooperation with the US on maritime drug interdiction until the attacks stop, underscoring growing unease in Latin America over the militarisation of counternarcotics efforts at sea.
Despite the controversy, US officials have given no indication that the campaign will slow, maintaining that the strikes are a necessary tool to disrupt powerful transnational drug networks before their product reaches US shores.
