The Department of Defense has increased the US military’s presence across the eastern Pacific, intercepting boats connected to drug shipments. Last week, the Pentagon executed missile strikes on three boats, killing eight people. These tough strikes aim to intercept the pipeline of drugs flowing towards US coasts. Understandably, the current administration believes this campaign to be critical to our national security.
The new military action comes in the form of a lethal strike. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth later confirmed that the four died on a ship working in international waters. That operation was just one part of a larger joint effort to crack down on drug trafficking, especially from Venezuela. Hegseth used this visit to announce that Joint Task Force Southern Spear had conducted a lethal strike. They shot at a ship controlled by a Designated Terrorist Organization in international waters. Intelligence indicated that the ship was moving on an established narco-trafficking maritime route in the Eastern Pacific. Indeed, it was deeply complicit in narco-trafficking enterprises. All four male narco-terrorists were killed in the joint operation, and no US military forces were injured.
The US administration is already facing increasing pressure to make public video footage taken from the September 2 strike. Supporters argued that this strike was a legitimate military action against a vessel engaging in drug trafficking. Nevertheless, Hegseth has chosen not to make this footage public, raising serious questions about transparency in military operations.
Since September 2, the military has conducted more than 20 strikes to disperse the camp. These attacks have led to at least 99 deaths, mostly along the coast of Venezuela. The administration’s moves have underscored its approach to destabilizing Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro. Trump has claimed that Maduro is using Venezuelan oil revenues to fund drug trafficking and other criminal enterprises.
Susie Wiles, now a Trump campaign adviser, underlined the White House paint with a broad brush. She remarked that Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle,” underscoring the aggressive stance the campaign is taking towards Venezuela.
Most controversially, he has announced plans for a US blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela. This comes on the heels of an increase in recent military strikes. This comprehensive approach marks a significant step toward proving the administration’s resolve to curtail the perilous nexus between drug trafficking and terrorism. In this case that threat is coming from a small South American nation.
The war on drug dealers remains a key domestic imperative. Left unaddressed, it is the third pillar of a more insidious, broader geopolitical strategy, which continues to unfold. The administration argues that these military efforts are crucial in preventing drugs from reaching American communities and asserting U.S. influence in the region.