The Trump administration's controversial campaign of air strikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean began with a potentially illegal tactic, a new report has revealed. According to officials briefed on the matter, the U.S. military used a secret aircraft disguised as a civilian plane to carry out its first attack on a suspected drug boat last September.
Aircraft Disguise and Legal Peril
The craft involved in the strike on 2 September did not carry visible munitions and lacked clear military markings, sources told The New York Times. This covert approach has drawn sharp criticism from legal experts, who argue it may violate international law. Retired Major General Steven J. Lepper, former deputy judge advocate general for the U.S. Air Force, stated such actions could constitute the war crime of "perfidy."
"Shielding your identity is an element of perfidy," General Lepper explained. "If the aircraft flying above is not identifiable as a combatant aircraft, it should not be engaged in combatant activity." The Pentagon, when questioned, defended its use of varied aircraft, stating all platforms undergo a rigorous process to ensure compliance with domestic and international law, including the law of armed conflict.
Controversy Deepens Over Strike Orders
The initial strike, which killed 11 people, was further mired in controversy due to the orders that followed. Military personnel were instructed to target two survivors of the initial blast who were clinging to wreckage—a so-called "double-tap strike" that critics also say breaches the laws of war. While administration officials stated Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth did not directly order the follow-up attack, they confirmed a Navy admiral acted under Hegseth's general brief for the operation. Hegseth has said he fully supported the decision.
Amid mounting scrutiny, Hegseth announced in December that the Pentagon would not release unedited video of the incident. The administration's entire legal basis for the campaign is under fire, with opponents labelling the strikes as illegal extrajudicial killings against individuals outside a formal theatre of war.
Escalating Campaign and Regional Fallout
The administration insists it is in an "armed conflict" with non-state drug groups, justifying the strikes. However, the military has provided scant evidence about the identities of those on the targeted boats or their alleged ties to drug trafficking. To date, the campaign has conducted 35 strikes, killing at least 123 people.
The operation escalated dramatically earlier this month when U.S. forces entered Venezuela and captured its leader, Nicolas Maduro, whom the U.S. accuses of collaborating with drug cartels. This move sparked bipartisan alarm in Congress. A group of senators voted last week to block President Trump from using further force against Venezuela without prior congressional approval, noting lawmakers were not briefed on the capture operation in advance.
