US Boat Strike Scrutiny
US military strike kills three on alleged drug boat, prompting Pentagon watchdog review.
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The U.S. military killed three people on June 18, 2026, in a strike on a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, according to Sun Sentinel. The attack pushed the total death toll from these operations to at least 211 since early September 2025. The military released video of the vessel exploding but provided no evidence that drugs were actually on board.
The strike is part of Operation Southern Spear, a Trump administration campaign that uses military force — missiles and drones — to destroy boats suspected of carrying narcotics. Critics call the operations extrajudicial killings. The Pentagon's own watchdog has opened a review of whether the military is following proper targeting rules, according to Pilot Online.
211 Dead and Counting Since September 2025
Operation Southern Spear began on September 2, 2025, with a strike off the coast of Venezuela that killed nine people. Reports later emerged of a second strike hitting survivors in the water — a tactic legal scholars say violates the Geneva Conventions, according to Press Enterprise. Since then, at least 64 vessels have been destroyed. Four strikes occurred in the first week of June 2026 alone.
The campaign escalated further on June 16, 2026, when the military hit a land target inside Venezuela for the first time. President Trump has declared the U.S. is in an "armed conflict" with Latin American drug cartels, designating them as terrorist organizations. That legal framing is the basis for treating the boat strikes as acts of war rather than law enforcement, according to Morning Journal.
No Drugs Found, But the Strikes Keep Coming
No drugs have been publicly recovered from any of the 64 vessels destroyed in the operation. The boats are typically incinerated or sunk in deep water, making evidence impossible to confirm, according to NY Daily News. Senator Tim Kaine, who has viewed the classified targeting criteria, stated publicly that the presence of actual narcotics on a boat is not a required condition for a strike.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised the campaign in March, claiming it had been so effective that it was now "hard to find targets." Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the legal process, saying "every strike has a legal officer on the deck." But critics argue the strikes bypass the U.S. judicial system entirely, targeting people who may be low-level couriers or even innocent fishermen, according to Monterey Herald.
Pentagon Watchdog Questions the Targeting Process
The Pentagon's Inspector General announced in May 2026 that it would review whether the military followed its own six-phase targeting framework when carrying out the strikes. The review focuses on the internal logic of how targets are chosen, approved, and assessed. Crucially, the watchdog said it will not rule on whether the overall policy is legal, according to San Diego Union Tribune.
The review could create friction between military commanders and career military lawyers — known as JAGs — who may be reluctant to approve strikes without clearer evidence of drug trafficking. Investigators are also examining whether the "double-tap" strikes on survivors cross a legal line under the laws of armed conflict, according to Daily News.
Fentanyl Travels by Land, Not Sea — Critics Say Strikes Miss the Point
Fentanyl — the drug responsible for the majority of U.S. overdose deaths — is trafficked primarily through land ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border, not by boat through the Pacific. Critics argue that sinking vessels in deep ocean water has little to no effect on American overdose rates, according to Press Telegram. The strikes, they say, are performative rather than effective.
Regional neighbors are also growing alarmed. Colombia is reportedly concerned about gang activity expanding in response to U.S. military pressure. The expansion of strikes to land targets inside Venezuela signals a potential drift toward a broader military intervention in South America — a prospect that has drawn little public debate in Washington, according to News Herald.
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