President Donald Trump’s war on drugs has entered a new, more volatile phase, with the administration dramatically escalating military operations against suspected narcotics traffickers in Latin America. On Tuesday, October 21, 2025, U.S. forces struck a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people on board. According to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the targeted boat was “known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route, and carrying narcotics.” The strike, which took place in international waters off the coast of Colombia, marks the eighth such attack, following seven earlier strikes in the Caribbean targeting drug boats allegedly linked to Venezuelan operations.
In an Oval Office briefing the following day, President Trump made it clear his administration is “totally prepared” to push the campaign even further. “There are very few boats traveling on the water. So now they’ll come in by land to a lesser extent and they will be hit on land,” Trump told reporters, as reported by CBS News. “We will hit them very hard when they come in by land. And they haven’t experienced that yet, but now we’re totally prepared to do that.”
The president insisted that he possesses the legal authority to carry out such strikes, citing national security concerns. “We have legal authority,” Trump stated. “This is a national security problem. They killed 300,000 people last year.” While he asserted that his administration could act without congressional approval, he also indicated a willingness to consult Congress before any land-based interventions, noting the importance of transparency and outlining the administration’s strategies.
Trump’s approach has not gone uncontested. Many lawmakers have questioned the legality and ethics of ordering such military strikes without explicit congressional authorization. “You cannot have a policy where you just allege someone is guilty of something and then just kill them,” Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky told Fox News. “If we were to be at war, the constitution says Congress has to vote for a declaration of war.”
The most recent strike, which involved a vessel off the coast of Colombia, has further inflamed tensions between the United States and South American nations. Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused the U.S. of “murder” and violating Colombian sovereignty, after American forces fired on what he said was a fishing boat belonging to a “humble family.” Petro posted on X (formerly Twitter), “U.S. government officials have committed murder and violated our sovereignty in territorial waters. Fisherman Alejandro Carranza had no ties to drug trafficking and his daily activity was fishing. The Colombian boat was adrift and had a distress signal on.”
President Trump fired back, calling Petro an “illegal drug leader” and escalating the war of words. “He’s hurt his country very badly,” Trump said. “They do it very poorly, Colombia. They make cocaine. They have cocaine factories. They grow all sorts of crap that’s drugs. Bad drugs coming into the United States goes generally through Mexico, and he better watch it, or we’ll take very serious action against him and his country.”
This rhetorical volley comes on the heels of Trump’s decision to halt financial aid to Colombia, a country that has long been the largest recipient of U.S. assistance in Latin America. The move has upended a decades-old partnership, with critics warning it could destabilize the region and undermine joint anti-narcotics efforts.
Behind the political drama is a massive U.S. military buildup not seen in the Caribbean for decades. The initial phase of the mission included a Marine air-ground task force aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, two San Antonio-class transport ships, and over 2,000 Marines ready for rapid-response missions. In total, more than 4,500 U.S. Marines and Navy personnel are now operating in the region, supported by a cruiser, several destroyers, and a Los Angeles-class attack submarine armed with precision-guided missiles. Ten F-35 stealth fighters are stationed in Puerto Rico, providing overwhelming air superiority over Venezuela’s aging fleet of Sukhoi Su-30s and F-16s.
The Trump administration has repeatedly characterized the campaign as a lawful exercise of executive authority, designed to protect the United States from the scourge of narcotics. The president has also framed the effort as a warning to Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, whom the U.S. accuses of running a “narco-regime” funded by drug money. The administration has offered a $50 million reward for Maduro’s capture, underscoring the high stakes of the operation.
Yet the strikes have drawn fierce criticism at home and abroad. Human rights advocates and some lawmakers have labeled the attacks “extrajudicial killings,” arguing that the administration has failed to provide Congress with evidence that those killed were in fact drug traffickers. According to CBS News, at least 34 people have died in the strikes to date, and two survivors from a previous attack were sent back to Colombia and Ecuador, respectively.
Democrats on Capitol Hill have demanded answers, requesting testimony from Admiral Alvin Holsey, who is leaving his post as head of the U.S. Southern Command two years early amid reported conflicts with Defense Secretary Hegseth over the strikes. Lawmakers are seeking greater oversight and transparency, especially as the administration signals a willingness to expand the campaign to land-based targets.
José Enrique Arrioja, senior director of policy at Americas Society/ Council of the Americas, told the Miami Herald that the latest moves represent a “clear escalation” of Trump’s anti-drug campaign. “The U.S. is now opening a second maritime war front that may dilute, distract its focus from its campaign against Maduro’s regime, while making more prominent the intention of preventing illicit drugs from reaching American consumers from Colombian ports,” Arrioja explained. “In broader terms, the U.S. is effectively playing the role of the region’s policeman, sending a clear message to the international community about its renewed commitment to the hemisphere. These are only the first steps in a strategy that may intensify in the weeks to come.”
As the administration’s campaign intensifies, so too do the questions about its long-term impact. Will the U.S. strikes succeed in curbing the flow of narcotics, or will they provoke further instability and resentment in the region? With political, legal, and ethical concerns mounting, the Trump administration’s war on drugs in Latin America is shaping up to be one of the most contentious foreign policy challenges of the era.
The coming weeks will reveal whether the administration’s show of force will deter traffickers, or whether the fallout—diplomatic, humanitarian, and political—will force a rethinking of America’s role in the hemisphere. For now, the U.S. remains on high alert, its military might on full display, and its next moves being watched by allies and adversaries alike.
