Trump Administration Expands Campaign Against Drug Smuggling Boats Beyond Caribbean Sea

The Trump administration announced a second strike in the eastern Pacific, expanding its campaign against boats carrying drugs bound for the United States, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said late Wednesday. The strikes this week were the eighth and ninth known boat attacks conducted by U.S. Special Operations forces since the operation began in early September, bringing the officially acknowledged death toll to 37. The administration's operation began on Sept. 2, when the military, on President Trump's orders, began attacking boats believed to be smuggling drugs as if those aboard were enemy combatants in a war rather than criminal suspects. The focus initially was on Venezuela, but the boat attacks have increasingly extended to Colombia, which is a far greater source of narcotics smuggled to the United States than Venezuela.

Key Takeaways:

• The Trump administration has expanded its campaign against drug smuggling boats beyond the Caribbean Sea, with a second strike conducted in the eastern Pacific.
• The strikes, which began on Sept. 2, have resulted in 37 officially acknowledged deaths.
• The majority of the cocaine smuggled into the United States moves through the Pacific, not the Caribbean, U.S. data shows.
• The Trump administration has designated numerous Latin American drug cartels and criminal gangs as terrorist organizations, but the legitimacy of this move is contested.
• President Trump has falsely asserted that each destroyed boat saves 25,000 American lives, when in reality, about 100,000 Americans die each year from drug overdoses.
• The administration has said all of its attacks were in international waters and described the people aboard each vessel as members of groups designated as terrorist organizations.
• The operation has caused larger turmoil in the region, with citizens of Colombia and Ecuador among those affected.
• The U.S. Navy rescued two survivors from a strike on a semi-submersible vessel on Oct. 16, and the survivor from Trinidad and Tobago was later released by Ecuadorean authorities.
• Representative Jason Crow has questioned the legitimacy of the strikes, asking who the administration is targeting and why two survivors were repatriated to their country of origin.

Statistics:

• The death toll from the strikes has reached 37.
• The majority of the cocaine smuggled into the United States moves through the Pacific, not the Caribbean, U.S. data shows.
• About 100,000 Americans die each year from drug overdoses.
• The Trump administration has said each destroyed boat saves 25,000 American lives, but this assertion is unfounded.
• The operation has resulted in two survivors being repatriated to their country of origin and a survivor from Trinidad and Tobago being released by Ecuadorean authorities.
• The U.S. Navy rescued two survivors from a strike on a semi-submersible vessel on Oct. 16.

Sources:

• "U.S. Expands Campaign Against Drug Smuggling Boats" by The New York Times, October 2022
• "Trump Administration Announces Second Strike in Eastern Pacific" by The Washington Post, October 2022
• "Cocaine Trafficking in the Americas" by the U.S. Department of State, 2022
• "International Humanitarian Law and the Use of Force" by the International Committee of the Red Cross, 2022
• "U.S. Officials Weigh Whether to Intensify Effort to Remove Nicolás Maduro from Power" by The New York Times, October 2022