American forces have carried out more than 60 covert strikes on small go‑fast boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific over the past nine months. Secretive aircraft and MQ‑9 Reaper drones have shattered at least 60 vessels, killing 200 people. The Trump administration labels the targets as drug‑smuggling vessels, while international law scholars and Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro call the attacks illegal extrajudicial killings.

Washington has expanded the effort into the largest U.S. military footprint in Latin America in decades, designating over a dozen regional groups as terrorist organizations and enlisting Guatemala and Ecuador to assist. National security adviser Stephen Miller convenes a bimonthly “wins” meeting where Pentagon officials report boat‑strike casualties as a success, signaling a push to normalize American forces across the region.

Despite the firepower, cocaine remains cheap and abundant in U.S. markets. Customs and Border Protection seized 47,808 pounds of cocaine in the eight months following the strikes, slightly more than the 43,227 pounds captured in the prior eight‑month period, suggesting the campaign has not disrupted supply chains. Public‑health experts argue the human cost outweighs any marginal impact on trafficking.