'Deliberate': At least one US strike on 'drug-carrying' boats targeted Colombians - report

At least one of the recent on suspected targeted aboard a vessel that had departed from Colombia, according to two individuals briefed by the Pentagon.

Since September, the US has carried out at least five strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean, including the most recent on October 14. The third strike, on September 19, targeted the Colombians, as per the sources.


“It was deliberate. Though the boat was suspected of carrying people affiliated with Colombian terrorist organisations, the Pentagon was unable to determine the identities of each individual before the strike,” they told CNN.

The disclosure comes even as US President Donald Trump publicly confirmed that he authorised the CIA to operate in Venezuela to curb illegal flows of migrants and drugs from Colombia's fellow South American nation. Of the targeted vessels, four had departed from Venezuela.

“We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea, so you get to see that, but we’re going to stop them by land also,” Trump said during an Oval Office event on Wednesday.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, whose US visa was recently revoked, had previously suggested that those aboard the September 19 vessel were Colombians.

“If the boat was sunk in the Dominican Republic, then it is possible that they were Colombians. This means that officials from the US and the Dominican Republic would be guilty of the murder of Colombian citizens,” Petro posted on X.

After the fourth strike, on October 2, he again hinted, citing “indications,” that those victims were also Colombians. “The aggression is against all of Latin America and the Caribbean,” he added.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told CNN that every strike targeted “designated narco-terrorists bringing deadly poison to our shores.”

“On the campaign trail, President Trump promised to take on the cartels – and he has taken unprecedented action to stop the scourge of narcoterrorism that has resulted in the needless deaths of innocent Americans,” Kelly noted, adding that the president “will continue to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice.”