🔗 Share this article

American military have killed four people in an strike on a ship near Venezuela that was purportedly carrying illegal substances, per Pentagon chief declarations.

"The strike was conducted in open seas just adjacent to Venezuela while the vessel was carrying large volumes of narcotics - destined for America to harm our citizens," military representatives announced in a public statement.

This represents the newest in a sequence of recent deadly strikes that the US has conducted on vessels in global maritime zones it asserts are involved in "drug smuggling".

The strikes have drawn criticism in countries such as Venezuela and Colombia, with some legal experts labeling the strikes as a violation of worldwide jurisprudence.

Operational Details

Military officials stated the operation occurred in the US naval force's area of responsibility, which encompasses the majority of South America and the Caribbean.

"Our intelligence, certainly, confirmed that this ship was transporting drugs, the individuals onboard were drug traffickers, and they were operating on a established narcotics transportation shipping lane," authorities stated about this latest attack.

"These strikes will continue until the attacks on the United States population are ended!!!!"

US President additionally confirmed the military action on social media, claiming that the vessel was containing sufficient drugs "to fatally harm 25 to 50 thousand persons".

Controversial Aspects

Nonetheless, the US has declined to offer evidence for its assertions or any information about the personal details of those on board.

There was no quick answer from Venezuela but its head of state has previously denounced the attacks and stated his country will protect itself in response to US "aggression".

Friday's fatal attack is the fourth such by the US in a month.

Earlier, officials had announced that eleven persons had been fatally struck in a military action against a drug-carrying ship in the tropical waters at the commencement of September.

Subsequently in the period, two distinct operations separated by a short interval resulted in the deaths of a aggregate six people.

Legal Framework

This Thursday, a unauthorized document sent to Congress – reported by news organizations – said the US administration had now decided it was in a "domestic warfare situation" with drug cartels.

This is important because the government is mandated by legislation to inform Congress if it will use the defense establishment, which suggests it aims to use additional military action.

The US has positioned its attacks on alleged trafficking ships as self-defence, regardless of many legal experts questioning their legality.

Characterizing this as an current warfare situation is presumably a method to defend using escalated wartime powers – for example eliminating "adversaries" even if they have not presented a violent threat, or imprisoning people indefinitely.

These constitute comparable authorities to those applied to previous groups in previous confrontations.

Federal authorities have failed to supply the reasoning for why they give the impression of classifying illegal substances trade and related illegal activities as an "combat situation", or named which groups they consider are attacking the US.

Government representatives have earlier classified many cartels, like those in Mexico, Ecuador and Venezuela, as terrorist organisations – granting US agencies enhanced authorities in their reaction to them.