"U.S. forces killed two people allegedly hauling illicit drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America on Tuesday, officials said, marking an expansion of the Trump administration's deadly counternarcotics campaign that until now focused on trafficking in the Caribbean Sea. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, writing Wednesday on social media, said the attack took place in international waters "along a known narco-trafficking transit route.""
"In the face of mounting questions about the legality of its deadly military campaign, the Trump administration has sought to justify the killings by claiming the United States is in " armed conflict " with Latin American drug cartels responsible for "poisoning" Americans - describing such groups as terrorist organizations. Recent attacks have challenged that assertion, however, including a U.S. strike last week that left two survivors from Colombia and Ecuador who were quickly repatriated."
U.S. forces conducted a strike in international waters off South America, killing two people alleged to be hauling illicit drugs and extending counternarcotics operations into the eastern Pacific. Officials said the targeted boat was known to intelligence as involved in narcotics smuggling. Since early September, military operations have included eight strikes with more than 30 deaths, all previously in the Caribbean. The administration has framed the effort as part of an "armed conflict" with Latin American drug cartels and linked some strikes to groups tied to Nicolás Maduro or the ELN. Officials have not publicly provided evidence confirming the targets' criminal status, and recent strikes produced survivors who were quickly repatriated, raising legal and evidentiary questions.
Read at The Washington Post
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