A United Nations human rights expert has said US military strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean violate international law and may amount to crimes against humanity.
In a report published on Monday, Ben Saul, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, said US forces had attacked 68 vessels in international waters between September 2025 and August 2026, killing at least 223 people.
The United States has defended the operations as acts of self-defence against what it describes as “narco-terrorists.” President Donald Trump has also told Congress that the strikes are part of an armed conflict with organisations designated by Washington as terrorist groups.
However, Saul rejected that justification, arguing that drug trafficking does not meet the legal threshold of an “armed attack” that would give the United States a right to use force in self-defence.
The report said international law permits lethal force only as a last resort when there is an imminent threat to life. It argued that this standard was not met in the reported attacks and that less-lethal measures, including intercepting vessels at sea, were available.
Saul said the killings could meet the legal definition of murder as a crime against humanity because the attacks were allegedly carried out systematically under an organised state policy and involved a large number of victims.
He called on the United States to investigate the deaths, prosecute those responsible, including political and military leaders who ordered the strikes, and provide compensation to the victims’ families.
Human rights organisations have also condemned the operations, describing some of the killings as extrajudicial. The Pentagon has released footage of several strikes but has provided limited information about the identities of those killed or the evidence linking them to drug trafficking.
The report also questioned whether the military campaign has been effective in reducing the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. It said cocaine seizures at the US border had remained steady and noted that much of the region’s cocaine trafficking occurs through container ships rather than the small vessels targeted by US forces.
The UN expert further said the strikes have not addressed fentanyl and opioid trafficking, which are major contributors to overdose deaths in the United States and are not typically transported by sea from Venezuela.
According to the report, the campaign could also undermine efforts to dismantle major drug networks by targeting lower-level suspects rather than cartel leaders. It estimated that the military operations had cost about $4.7 billion by mid-2026, arguing that the funds could instead have been directed towards law enforcement, public health and development programmes.
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