The United States military on Friday said it killed three suspected drug traffickers during an airstrike on a boat in the Caribbean Sea, raising the total number of people killed in Washington’s anti-drug operations to at least 133.
The action is part of a wider crackdown launched by President Donald Trump’s administration in early September.
The US government has been targeting boats it believes are being used to smuggle drugs, insisting that it is effectively at war with alleged “narco-terrorists” said to be operating from Venezuela. Since the campaign began, dozens of strikes have reportedly been carried out.
However, the operations have sparked serious debate. Officials in the administration have not presented clear evidence to publicly prove that the targeted boats were actually involved in drug trafficking.
This has led to growing concerns and arguments over the legality of the strikes, which have now expanded beyond the Caribbean Sea to parts of the Pacific Ocean.
“Three narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No US military forces were harmed,” US Southern Command said in a statement on X.
The new strike comes nearly six weeks after the capture by US special forces of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, who had said the American campaign of strikes was aimed at pushing regime change in the South American country.
The leftist leader is now incarcerated in the United States, where he has pleaded not guilty to drug and weapons charges.
