The American military carried out an air strike Friday on a drug boat allegedly affiliated with the National Liberation Army (ELN), a Colombian narco-revolutionary group. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the results of the attack on social media Sunday, adding that the strike killed three men and destroyed the vessel.
“The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was traveling along a known narco-trafficking route, and was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics,” Hegseth wrote. A video of the strike accompanied the post.
The Trump administration has made destroying drug transportation networks in the western hemisphere a priority, including by destroying boats that U.S. intelligence has determined are involved in narcotrafficking. This is the seventh known boat to be destroyed as part of American counternarcotics operations in the region, which have been principally focused around Venezuelan territorial waters. At least one boat was not completely destroyed during a strike, and the Trump administration has announced it will transfer the surviving crew members to Colombia and Ecuador.
The administration’s choice to counter drug boats with lethal force is a deviation from normal U.S. anti-narcotics operations, which have traditionally focused on interdicting drug boats and arresting the crew. The buildup of American military assets which have been deployed in the Caribbean, ostensibly for anti-narcotics operations, has been denounced by Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro as preparations for an American military intervention in the country.
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