US military strike on boat in Caribbean targeted Colombians signaling broader campaign against drug groups

By Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — At least one US military strike in the Caribbean over the last two months targeted Colombian nationals on a boat that had left from Colombia, according to two people briefed by the Pentagon about the strikes.

The deliberate targeting of Colombians, which has not been previously reported, suggests that the US military’s campaign against suspected narcotics trafficking groups in the Caribbean is wider than previously believed.

The US military has carried out at least five strikes to date on five separate boats in the Caribbean. The third publicly acknowledged strike on September 19 targeted a boat leaving Colombia, the sources said.

The boat was suspected of carrying Colombians affiliated with Colombian terrorist organizations, the sources said, but the Pentagon was unable to determine the individual identities of each person on the boats before they struck them.

The Trump administration has produced a classified legal opinion that justifies lethal strikes against a secret and expansive list of cartels and suspected drug traffickers, CNN has reported.

The opinion is significant, legal experts previously told CNN, because it appears to justify giving the president power to designate drug traffickers as enemy combatants and have them summarily killed without legal review. Historically, those involved in drug trafficking were considered criminals with due process rights, with the Coast Guard interdicting drug-trafficking vessels and arresting smugglers.

CNN has reached out to Colombia’s foreign ministry for comment. Referring to the vessel that was struck on September 19, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said at the time on X: “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.”

Asked about the strike, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told CNN that every strike taken by the US military has “been against designated narcoterrorists 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 said. She added 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.”

Petro also said on X earlier this month that “indications show” the fourth US military strike also targeted Colombians. “The aggression is against all of Latin America and the Caribbean.” The US had announced days earlier that it had hit a fourth boat in the Caribbean.

The White House denied Petro’s claims in a statement, saying that “the United States looks forward to President Petro publicly retracting his baseless and reprehensible statement.”

But sources told CNN that while the fourth US military strike may not have targeted Colombians, at least the one previous strike on September 19 did.

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