The U.S. military confirmed Wednesday it struck three boats suspected of drug smuggling, resulting in three fatalities, while others reportedly jumped overboard.
The operation, overseen by U.S. Southern Command, did not disclose the precise location of the strikes. Previous similar actions have taken place in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean.
A video released by Southern Command on social media depicted the boats traveling in a close formation. The military asserted the vessels were part of a convoy on known narco-trafficking routes and claimed they “had transferred narcotics between the three vessels prior to the strikes,” though no evidence was provided to substantiate this assertion.
Three individuals were killed when the first boat was struck. Occupants of the other two vessels reportedly jumped into the water and distanced themselves from the boats before they were attacked. Southern Command stated it promptly notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate search and rescue efforts.
The attacks occurred on Tuesday. Southern Command’s statement did not say whether those who jumped off the boats were rescued.
Calling in the Coast Guard is notable because the U.S. military drew heavy scrutiny after U.S. forces killed the survivors of an attack in early September with a follow-up strike to their disabled boat. Some Democratic lawmakers and legal experts said the military committed a crime, while the Trump administration and some Republican lawmakers say the follow-up strike was legal.
The latest attacks bring the total number of known boat strikes to 33 and the number of people killed to at least 110 since early September, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and asserted that the U.S. is engaged in an âarmed conflictâ with drug cartels.
Along with the strikes, the Trump administration has built up military forces in the region as part of an escalating pressure campaign on Venezuelan President NicolĂĄs Maduro, who has been charged with narco-terrorism in the United States.
Meanwhile, the CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels, according to two people familiar with details of the operation who requested anonymity to discuss the classified matter.
It was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September, a significant escalation in the administrationâs pressure campaign on Maduroâs government.
