(The Center Square) – Dominican Republic authorities said they confiscated about 1,000 kilograms of suspected cocaine from a speedboat after a U.S. airstrike in the southern Caribbean.
Agents from the Dominican Republic’s National Drug Control Directorate and the Dominican Republic Navy seized 377 packages of suspected cocaine about 80 nautical miles south of Beata Island, Pedernales province. That was after a U.S. air strike against the speedboat.
Dominican authorities working with the United States Southern Command and the Joint Interagency Task Force South detected the boat. They said intelligence reports indicated the vessel was loaded with drugs and was heading to a Dominican territory. Authorities said that from there, the gang would take the drugs to the United States.
“This is the first time in history that the Dominican Republic and the United States have carried out a joint operation against narcoterrorism in the Caribbean region,” the DNCD statement said.
Trump ordered military strikes on Sept. 2, Sept. 15 and Sept. 19 on drug boats in the Caribbean. Trump said the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was using the boats to smuggle drugs to the U.S.
Early in his second term, Trump designated Tren de Aragua and Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations.
The U.S. said the three boat strikes resulted in 17 deaths. The Sept. 2 attack killed 11. The strike on Sept. 15 killed three, as did the strike on Sept. 19. U.S. officials have released a few details about the strikes, but Trump has posted videos of two of the strikes on social media. He told reporters about the third.
The DNCD said U.S. authorities destroyed the boat during the operation.
“During the operation, the boat was destroyed by U.S. authorities as part of their actions against narcoterrorism in the Caribbean region,” DNCD officials said.
After the strike, the Dominican Republic Navy and DNCD recovered 13 bales containing 377 packages. The packages were wrapped in adhesive tape and bearing various logos, according to DNCD officials.
Trump’s use of military strikes on suspected drug boats marks a new tactic in the war on drugs. Previously, U.S. forces stopped suspect vessels, made arrests, and seized drugs.
After the first boat strike on Sept. 2, Trump warned smugglers operating in the area.
“The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!”
The U.S. president had a similar message after the second strike on Sept. 15.
“BE WARNED – IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU! The illicit activities by these cartels have wrought DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES ON AMERICAN COMMUNITIES FOR DECADES, killing millions of American Citizens. NO LONGER,” Trump wrote.
Trump and his administration have said the strikes are legal.
“Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military,” Vice President J.D. Vance said on Sept. 6.
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has pushed back.
“JD ‘I don’t give a shit’ Vance says killing people he accuses of a crime is the ‘highest and best use of the military.’ Did he ever read To Kill a Mockingbird? Did he ever wonder what might happen if the accused were immediately executed without trial or representation?? What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial,” Paul responded.