The United States military Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) on Monday evening announced that the United States has carried out a 29th strike targeting drug runners in the waters off South and Central America.
The ship was operating in the Eastern Pacific. Along with the Caribbean, ships operating in the Eastern Pacific have been the top targets for U.S. strikes on narcotics traffickers.
According to SOUTHCOM, intelligence confirmed that the vessel “was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.”
A lone male aboard the vessel was killed in the strike, the military said.
U.S. President Donald Trump has designated several cartels and similar criminal organizations as domestic terror groups during his second term in office, increasing U.S. authority against them. Trump has said the attacks are part of his administration’s effort to stop the influx of illicit drugs, especially fentanyl, into the country.
Meanwhile, critics said that such strikes are legally controversial and that anti-drug enforcement activities have historically been handled by law enforcement rather than the military.
So far, more than 100 people have died in the strikes, coming amid a broader U.S. pressure campaign against Venezuela.
Trump has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his government of running an international drug trafficking operation.
Trump’s pressure campaign on Maduro has ramped up in recent weeks, with the U.S. military starting to board U.S.-sanctioned Venezuelan vessels as of Dec. 11.
“If he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it'll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough,” he added.
Trump told reporters the United States may keep or sell the oil and the ships now seized. He said the oil could also be used to replenish the U.S. strategic reserves.
The Chinese foreign ministry accused the United States on Dec. 22 of a serious violation of international law over the China-bound oil tanker seized off the Venezuelan coast on Dec. 20.
Venezuela has the right to develop relations with other countries, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a daily press briefing, adding that China opposes all “unilateral and illegal” sanctions.
The tanker, “Centuries,” loaded in Venezuela under the false name “Crag,” was carrying some 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan Merey crude oil. Documents showed the oil was bound for China, which has been a key ally of Maduro.
A White House spokesperson said the “falsely flagged vessel” had sanctioned oil and was part of Venezuela’s shadow fleet. The Venezuelan government called the seizure a “serious act of international piracy.”
Communist China is Venezuela’s biggest buyer of crude, accounting for roughly 4 percent of China’s imports.
