The US has carried out more than 20 strikes in international waters on alleged drug vessels since September.

The US military says it has carried out strikes on three boats it has accused of trafficking drugs in the Pacific Ocean, killing eight people.

The US Southern Command posted footage of the strikes on social media and said the vessels were “transiting along known narco-trafficking routes… and were engaged in narco-trafficking”.

More than 20 vessels in the Pacific and the Caribbean have been targeted in recent months, killing at least 90 people, as part of President Donald Trump’s escalating campaign against gangs he accuses of transporting drugs in the region.

  • Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
    32·
    4 days ago

    Reminder that the US military recently seized an entire oil tanker. They are more than capable of boarding and searching these vessels. But if they did that, they’d actually have to show the drugs, and there aren’t any.

    • village604@adultswim.fanEnglish
      9·
      4 days ago

      The coastguard boards and searches suspected smuggling boats every day. There’s literally no excuse for bombs.

    • dustyData@lemmy.worldEnglish
      14·
      4 days ago

      This ones in particular they can’t board, because it’s ships on the Caribbean bombing boats on the pacific. There’s a whole continent in the middle. That said, this is still madness though still far from the worst that the US has done historically.

        • hcf@sh.itjust.works
          6·
          4 days ago

          No, they’re saying that that US Navy vessel was le tired and too lazy to go to the pacific to do interdictions. So it had its predator drone(s) fire missiles from above, instead.

          Totally relatable, btw. I hate having to traverse the seas to do my naval job and would much rather do it off the coast of a safe port.

          In fact, we should just arm police helicopters with R9X missiles so they can remotely disable suspects during police chases.

          • Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
            4·
            4 days ago

            Why even have police chases? Just drone strike the car and be done with it. Same solution for everything. Suspected drug dealer? Drone strike their house. Gas station getting robbed? Drone strike it. Gotta be sure any potential suspects are dead. Traffic violation? Drone strike. Speeding? Drone strike. Why even bother having cops? Don’t need em. All you need is drone strikes.