US Forces Destroy Three Drug-Linked Boats

The United States Armed Forces announced on Tuesday that they have destroyed three more boats linked to drug trafficking in the Pacific and the Caribbean, in an operation that has left a total of eleven dead. These three attacks come after another U.S. military airstrike destroyed another boat last Friday and caused the death of its three crew members. According to the text, Washington confirmed that the vessels were 'traveling on known drug trafficking routes and participating in drug trafficking operations.' Since September, these extrajudicial attacks on suspected drug traffickers have already exceeded forty and have left around 150 dead. 'Eleven male narcoterrorists died during these actions: four in the first vessel in the eastern Pacific, four in the second vessel in the eastern Pacific, and three in the third vessel in the Caribbean,' concludes the communiqué. In response to criticism from those who believe Washington is not granting these individuals due process, the Donald Trump administration has argued that its actions are justified because the administration has declared war on several cartels and organizations linked to drug trafficking in Latin America. The operation, which the U.S. has been implementing since last September in the area of responsibility of the Southern Command (Central America, South America, and the Caribbean), was activated with the primary objective of increasing tension around Nicolás Maduro, who was captured in an operation in Caracas by U.S. forces on January 3. 'In the late hours of February 16, under the direction of the commander of the Southern Command, General Francis L. Donovan, the joint task force Southern Lanza conducted three lethal kinetic strikes against three vessels operated by designated terrorist organizations,' the Southern Command reported in a statement published today. The three attacks took place within the framework of Operation Southern Lanza, which the U.S....