WASHINGTON: The US Southern Command mentioned on Monday (Dec 15) that it carried out strikes on three vessels in worldwide waters, killing eight males.
“Intelligence confirmed that the vessels had been transiting alongside identified narco-trafficking routes within the Japanese Pacific and had been engaged in narco-trafficking,” the army mentioned in a publish on X.
The USA struck more than 20 vessels within the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea close to Venezuela as a part of a army marketing campaign President Donald Trump has launched on drug smuggling from the area.
No less than 90 suspected drug smugglers have been killed within the course of.
The usage of the army to assault suspected drug vessels marks a stark departure from how the US has traditionally handled them.
The Trump administration has sought to defend the legality of the strikes, which some authorized consultants have mentioned quantity to illegal extrajudicial killings.
“Our operations within the Southcom area are lawful underneath each US and worldwide regulation, with all actions in compliance with the Legislation of Armed Battle,” Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson instructed reporters earlier this month.
The strikes are seen because the precursor to US land strikes on Venezuela that Trump has mentioned will quickly begin.
