The U.S. military has conducted nearly 20 strikes on alleged drug smuggling vessels in the Western Hemisphere that have killed approximately 75 people to date.
Under President Donald Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth, the military in September began targeting alleged drug boats with deadly force, a change from a tradition of having the Coast Guard interdict the ships and making arrests if needed. The strikes have prompted questions and consternation on Capitol Hill regarding the legalities of blowing the vessels up.
Over the last couple of months, Hegseth has ordered what amounts to the largest military buildup in the Caribbean in decades, leading experts to believe there could be a bigger strategy at play. The focus, many experts believe, is on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom the United States has designated as an illegitimate leader due to the widespread international stance that he lost his last election but remained in power.
Both Trump and Hegseth have said intelligence proves the boats were involved in the transportation of narcotics, but they have not publicly explained what that intelligence was or shown evidence that there were drugs aboard the targeted vessels. The administration has not released the names of the people killed in the strikes, and it is unclear if they knew the identities of the people aboard before killing them.
Below is a running list of the strikes and what the Trump administration has said about each of them.
Nov. 9: Hegseth announced Monday that, one day earlier, the U.S. military had killed six people in strikes on two vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Nov. 6: Hegseth announced that the U.S. had killed three people on a vessel the military targeted in the Caribbean Sea.
Nov. 4: The secretary announced that two people were killed in a strike that targeted a vessel in the eastern Pacific.
Nov. 1: The secretary said three people were killed in a strike targeting a vessel in the Caribbean Sea.
Oct. 29: The military targeted a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing four people on board.
Oct. 27: U.S. forces carried out three strikes targeting four vessels in the eastern Pacific. There were a total of 14 people killed, though there was one survivor. U.S. Southern Command, whose area of responsibility is central and southern America, initiated a search and rescue operation, though Mexican authorities ultimately “accepted the case and assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue,” Hegseth said.
Oct. 23 and 24: The military conducted a strike on a vessel in the Caribbean Sea overnight from Oct. 23 into Oct. 24, killing all six people aboard.
Oct. 22: The U.S. killed three people in a strike in the eastern Pacific.
Oct. 21: The U.S. conducted what is believed to be the first strike in the eastern Pacific, which killed two people.
Oct. 17: U.S. forces targeted a vessel allegedly affiliated with Colombia’s Ejército de Liberación Nacional, a designated terrorist organization. Three people were killed.
Oct. 16: U.S. forces targeted a submarine, not a surface vessel. Two people on board were killed, while there were also two survivors. The survivors were handed over to their home countries of Colombia and Ecuador, which surprised some experts, who say the decision not to prosecute them was curious.
Oct. 14: Trump announced that he had ordered a strike on a vessel in international waters “just off the Coast of Venezuela,” which he said killed six people.
Oct. 3: The U.S. killed four people in a strike off Venezuela’s coast.
Sept. 19: The U.S. killed three people in a strike in the Caribbean Sea.
DRUG BOAT STRIKES ARE TIED TO VENEZUELA. THAT’S NOT WHERE THE FENTANYL COMES FROM
Sept. 15: Trump announced the U.S. killed three alleged drug smugglers in a strike, though he did not specify where the strike took place, only saying that the boat was from Venezuela.
Sept. 2: This was the first strike the U.S. conducted on a reported drug smuggling vessel during this operation. Trump announced the strike, which killed 11 people, during a press conference in the Oval Office.
