By Naveen Athrappully
A U.S. task force and foreign partners seized nearly 1,500 pounds of cocaine in two operations in the Caribbean Sea over the past week.
The first interdiction involved U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detecting a go-fast boat in the Caribbean, directing it to a port, and seizing about 562 pounds of cocaine, the Joint Interagency Task Force South said in an Oct. 15 post.
In the second interdiction, the Colombian Navy informed French Forces about another go-fast boat in the Caribbean Sea. One of the French frigates intercepted the vessel and seized roughly 917 pounds of cocaine, the Joint Interagency Task Force South said in an Oct. 16 post on X.
The Joint Interagency Task Force South’s monitoring and detection efforts support U.S. Southern Command-led operations to dismantle narco-terrorist networks across the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The task force is an international alliance of 13 domestic and 20 international partners.
The Caribbean is a “critical transshipment zone” for illegal drugs, mainly cocaine, according to a National Drug Control Strategy report issued by the White House. The region has a complex geography, with thousands of islands that offer ample cover for criminal groups to hide drug operations.
Criminal groups in the region use high-speed boats, submersibles, semi-submersibles, and low-profile vessels to transport cocaine, authorities said.
The Trump administration has been carrying out military strikes against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific for the past year. It has also designated several drug cartels and criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations.
The administration has said that the vessels it struck were shipping narcotics that were ultimately headed to the United States.
Critics have said the military strikes are illegal. In an Oct. 14 statement, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said that the attacks have killed at least 239 individuals since September last year.
The ACLU said that even if the vessels contained drugs, no international or domestic law authorizes using military force against criminal organizations, the advocacy group said, labeling the strikes as “premeditated killings of civilians” outside of an armed conflict scenario.
“We urge leaders in both Congress and the executive branch to finally end this illegal campaign before anyone else is killed,” Jeff Stein, staff attorney with ACLU’s National Security Project, said in the statement.
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson justified the strikes in December last year, telling reporters that designated terror organizations operate the vessels.
The strikes have been thoroughly vetted by authorities and are aimed at defending American interests and protecting the country, Wilson said.
“Our operations in the Southcom region are lawful under both U.S. and international law, with all actions in compliance with the Law of Armed Conflict,” Wilson said. “These actions have also been approved by the best military and civilian lawyers up and down the chain of command.”
