U.S. military strikes on suspected drug smugglers spike after a lull following Maduro’s capture.
By MAX BOOT
Washington Post
May 4, 2026
When the U.S. armed forces began blowing up suspected “drug boats” on Sept. 2, 2025, it was widely seen as a way not just to fight the war on drugs but also to put pressure on Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, who was in league with drug traffickers. Many expected that the lawless strikes — which amount to killing suspected criminals without trial — would end after U.S. forces captured Maduro at the beginning of the year.
There was, indeed, a pause in such operations. After conducting the 34th and 35th boat strikes on Dec. 31, the military did not carry out another one until Jan. 23. But since then, the strikes have ramped up again. At least 19 more strikes were carried out between Jan. 23 and April 26 — an average of one every five days. That’s slightly slower than the rate before Maduro’s capture (one strike every 3½ days), but it’s still a significant tempo. In all, according to the Just Security website, there have been at least 55 strikes, with 174 reported killed, 11 missing and four known survivors.
It has now become routine for U.S. Southern Command to post grainy videos online of boats being blown up, along with claims that “male narco-terrorists were killed,” even though the administration has not offered any evidence that even one of the people incinerated by U.S. firepower was engaged in drug trafficking, much less in terrorism. The administration is so averse to trying to prove wrongdoing in court that, when suspects survive a strike, they are released rather than arrested. Apparently, there is a secret Justice Department opinion justifying the strikes based on the fanciful premise that drug cartels are waging war on the United States.
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