67 boat strikes. 221 dead. The cocaine hasn’t slowed, officials report
The assessment says traffickers shifted routes and tactics, while cocaine price, purity and availability in the United States stayed largely unchanged.
- On Monday, The Washington Post reported that a Drug Enforcement Administration analysis concluded President Donald Trump's campaign of strikes against alleged drug boats has not "reduced the amount of cocaine entering" the United States.
- Operation Southern Spear has targeted suspected drug boats since September, killing at least 221 people across more than 67 vessels, though the administration defends these strikes as necessary lethal deterrence.
- A DEA official explained that traffickers have adapted by shifting to larger vessels and land routes to avoid detection, stating, "When you squeeze the balloon on one side, it always expands on the other side."
- Findings contradict President Trump's repeated assertions that strikes slashed maritime trafficking by 97 percent to 98 percent, with critics including WOLA's Isaacson arguing the campaign is "cruel and illegal."
- Experts warn the strikes may undermine investigative capacity by endangering informants, while CNN notes the last strike occurred on June 21, though the reason for the operational pause remains unclear.
42 Articles
42 Articles
Boat strikes have not reduced drug smuggling into the U.S., DEA finds
NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Washington Post national security reporter Alex Horton about DEA and Pentagon conclusions that U.S. boat strikes have not reduced drug smuggling into the U.S. by sea.
The US attacks on 67 vessels, allegedly loaded with drugs, as part of a campaign to combat drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Pacific, in which more than 200 people died, did not stop the cocaine flow to the United States, according to official data published by Washington Post on Monday, informs EFE, according to Agerpres.
Donald Trump says his attacks have stopped the flow of drugs into the United States. The Pentagon and the drug enforcement do not share that view, according to Washington Post sources. “They always find weak points and exploit them,” says one person.
The newspaper lists 67 attacks and 221 deaths in Operation ‘Southern Spear’, which involved shelling of boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
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- 49% of the sources are Center
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