U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats have done little to stop the flow of illegal drugs

2 weeks ago 4

Despite dozens of lethal U.S. military strikes on suspected narco-boats, drug flows continue, allies are alarmed, and Caribbean fishermen say their livelihoods are under threat.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's easy to forget, given the government's use of force within the United States, that the government is also using force outside the United States. The military has carried out nearly three dozen lethal attacks on boats that the government says were smuggling drugs. The latest strike on Friday killed two people and brought the death toll from such operations to at least 126. The policy is meant to stop drug trafficking to the United States. John Otis reports it's not.

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JOHN OTIS, BYLINE: Here on Colombia's Caribbean coast, Euris Cervantes (ph) starts his outboard motor and pushes off from shore.

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OTIS: It's 5 a.m. and still dark. The Big Dipper shines overhead, and as we approach the open sea, we spot hundreds of herons.

OTIS: It's a placid scene, but Cervantes is nervous.

EURIS CERVANTES: (Speaking Spanish).

OTIS: He used to navigate some 40 miles offshore, where the fishing is much better. For his own safety, Cervantes now stays close to shore. That's not the only change brought about by the lethal boat strikes, which Human Rights Watch and many legal experts describe as unlawful executions.

PHIL GUNSON: The allies don't want their intelligence to be used for what they regard as illegal operations. In other words, killing people on the high seas.

OTIS: That's Phil Gunson, who's based in Venezuela for the International Crisis Group. He says the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and France used to share with the U.S. its intelligence on drug smuggling in the Caribbean, but that's no longer the case. Another U.S. ally, Colombia, produces most of the world's cocaine. But instead of destroying drug boats, its military captures them.

(CROSSTALK)

OTIS: The navy base in the coastal city of Cartagena is full of impounded narco-submarines and go-fast boats, some of which can carry up to 5 tons of cocaine.

Colombian navy had to fire on this go-fast boat to get it to stop, and its four outboard motors are just riddled with bullet holes.

But the Colombian navy almost never uses lethal force, preferring instead to take suspected drug traffickers alive to face legal charges and provide intelligence.

UNIDENTIFIED NAVY CAPTAIN: Well, the Colombian navy have rules of engagement in the sea.

OTIS: That's a navy captain involved in counternarcotics operations, who asked to remain anonymous for his own safety. Since the U.S. bombing campaign began in September, he's seen no pause in drug smuggling.

UNIDENTIFIED NAVY CAPTAIN: Last week, we have a big seizure here in Colombia of a go-fast with 4.5 tons of cocaine.

OTIS: In other words, the go-fast boats are still going.

UNIDENTIFIED NAVY CAPTAIN: Yeah, they are still going out. Yeah.

OTIS: President Trump claims the bombings have stopped 97% of all illegal drugs coming into the U.S. by water. However, drug policy analysts point out that most Narco-boats drop off their cargo in Central America or Mexico, with the drugs then taken overland to the U.S. And during the last three months of 2025, when the U.S. bombing campaign was in full force, drug seizures at the U.S.-Mexican border actually increased. They were up by 34% compared to the same period in 2024, when there were no bombings, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

BEN STECHSCHULTE: I don't think it has any deterrent effect.

OTIS: Ben Stechschulte is a Tampa-based attorney who has defended suspected drug smugglers from Latin America.

STECHSCHULTE: The drug cartels kind of figure out, OK, we're going to lose some of these shipments. Right?

OTIS: But the boat bombings have disrupted the lives of Colombian fishermen, like Cervantes. They catch a few sea bass, as well as 14 lobsters that flop around in the bottom of the boat.

(SOUNDBITE OF LOBSTERS FLOPPING)

OTIS: Back on shore, Fermin Perez of the local fishers association says some of his members have been traumatized by watching videos of the boat bombings.

FERMIN PEREZ: (Speaking Spanish).

OTIS: "Many no longer go out on the ocean," he says, "but we need to fish because that's how we live. That's how we eat."

For NPR News, I'm John Otis on the Caribbean coast of Colombia.

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