US military kills 87 people in 22 strikes on alleged drug boats

The U.S. military killed at least 87 people in 22 strikes on 23 vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean as of Dec. 4, 2025, as part of Operation Southern Spear. Trump announced the first strike Sept. 2, 2025, killing 11 people on a boat from Venezuela. He released video footage showing the boat being struck and engulfed in flames. The Trump administration alleged the vessels were operated by groups it designated as narcoterrorists, including Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and Colombian guerrilla group the National Liberation Army, but has not publicized evidence for those allegations.

A Trump administration memo obtained by the Associated Press declared drug cartels to be 'unlawful combatants' and stated the U.S. is in 'armed conflict' with them. The memo drew criticism from lawmakers including Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated at an Oct. 23 White House event that suspects on boats would be treated 'like foreign terrorist organizations on the offense,' saying 'the Department of War is not going to degrade, or just simply arrest.' Legal scholars questioned whether the executive branch has unilateral authority to launch these attacks in international waters without congressional authorization.

Trump repeatedly inflated drug overdose death numbers to justify the strikes. On Sept. 5, he claimed 'We lost 300,000' Americans to drugs last year. On Sept. 14, while speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One, Trump inflated that figure to 300 million.

CDC data shows drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2024 were about 80,000, representing a 25% decline from the previous year's 112,910 deaths. Former Attorney General William Barr first accused Venezuelan President Maduro of supporting drug trafficking in 2020, claiming 250 tons of cocaine are smuggled through Venezuela annually, without presenting supporting evidence.

Only three people survived the strikes. Jeison Obando Pérez, 34, was repatriated to Colombia 'with brain trauma, sedated, drugged, breathing with a ventilator,' according to Colombia's Interior Minister Armando Benedetti. Andrés Fernando Tufiño Chila, 41, was repatriated to Ecuador on Oct. 18; the Office of the Attorney General of Ecuador reported no information that he had committed a crime in Ecuadorian territory, though U.S. court documents show he was convicted of drug smuggling in Ecuador in 2020.

The strikes sparked international condemnation and diplomatic conflicts. Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused the U.S. of killing an innocent Colombian fisherman with no ties to drug smuggling. Trump responded by announcing he would cancel all U.S. aid to Colombia.

Two unidentified bodies suspected to be casualties from the Sept. 1 strike washed up on the shores of Trinidad and Tobago, showing signs of having been blown up. One body was recognized by locals as a Venezuelan who had been jailed for human-trafficking charges after a 2020 boat capsizing.

Legal scholars, human rights groups, and international bodies called the killings illegal under U.S. and international law. Experts described the strikes as extrajudicial killings and possible crimes against humanity. Senator Mark Warner said he was worried about putting American sailors 'in harm's way by violating international law' and stated that neither he nor the Senate Intelligence Committee had been briefed ahead of the Sept. 2 operation.

A bipartisan briefing scheduled for Sept. 5 was abruptly canceled. Warner condemned the government's briefing procedures again on Oct. 29. When asked for comment, a White House spokesperson accused the Democratic Party of 'running cover for foreign drug smugglers.'

The Senate rejected two resolutions in November 2025 that would have limited Trump's authority to continue military strikes against alleged drug vessels. Republican senators Lindsey Graham and Bernie Moreno welcomed the initial strike. Trump repeatedly stated land strikes inside Venezuela were coming, saying during a Dec. 2 Cabinet meeting: 'We're going to start doing those strikes on land, too. We know where they live.'

Venezuelan opposition figures, Trump administration sources, and independent political analysts suggested the U.S.'s true motive was regime change against President Nicolás Maduro.

The 'unlawful combatants' designation applies the law of armed conflict to drug interdiction operations, lowering the legal threshold for lethal force against vessels whose status as drug trafficking operations has not been independently verified. No independent verification mechanism exists for determining whether struck vessels were drug trafficking craft or civilian boats, because the strikes occur at sea without the evidence-gathering that accompanies law enforcement actions.

Asserting 'armed conflict' status without congressional authorization sets a precedent that the executive can unilaterally declare a state of armed conflict against non-state actors. The War PowersWar PowersThe constitutional division of war-making power between Congress and the President.Key ConceptWar PowersThe constitutional division of war-making power between Congress and the President.Open conceptBookmark Resolution did not anticipate that designation.