The U.S. military carried out a strike against a suspected drug vessel late on Tuesday in Pacific Ocean waters off of South America, a U.S. official told Reuters on Wednesday.
The strike is the first known U.S. military operation in the Pacific since starting a new offensive against the drug trade that led to at least seven strikes in the Caribbean and dramatically raised U.S. tensions with Venezuela and Colombia.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not provide further details but said there were several people on the vessel — suspected to be smugglers– when it was struck.
The latest strike, which was first reported by CBS News, comes against the backdrop of a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean that includes guided missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear submarine and around 6,500 troops.
Legal experts have questioned why the U.S. military is carrying out the strikes, instead of the Coast Guard, which is the main U.S. maritime law enforcement agency, and why other efforts to halt the shipments aren’t made before resorting to deadly strikes.
-Reuters