US Military Strikes Drug Suspect Vessels: What Does This Mean for Global Drug Trade?
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[Herald Economy = Reporter Ko Jae-woo] U.S. military forces continued strikes on vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, officials said, with three people killed in the latest attack.
On May 5 (local time), the Associated Press reported that U.S. forces struck another suspected drug-smuggling vessel following strikes on May 4. Two people died in the earlier strike, and officials say three more were killed in the most recent operation.
Since President Donald Trump took office and beginning last September, U.S. forces have been targeting vessels suspected of transporting narcotics in waters off Latin America. Officials say at least 191 people have died in those operations so far.
But questions remain about whether the vessels struck were actually carrying drugs. Authorities have not presented evidence that the boat hit in the latest strike was transporting narcotics.
The president has defended the strikes as a military measure to stem the flow of drugs into the United States, but legal experts say the operations raise serious questions under international law.
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