U.S. military force used against drug traffickers

[brihard]

Not a lot of info on this yet but apparently Arturo announced today, with little detail, that the U.S. military launched a “lethal strike” in the southern Caribbean against an alleged drug vessel leaving Venezuela.

TONS of info I’d like to know on this one, but I suspect this is the start of a campaign. US Navy has been massing in the Caribbean recently. I’ve titled the thread in anticipation of further events and discussions involving future similar events.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1962955959195537618

An immediate concern I have- if there’s a prospect that the U.S. military will be used to unilaterally strike criminal targets with lethal effect, will that impact criminal (not military) intelligence sharing by other nations including us? And then downstream reciprocal impacts if intelligence sharing to the U.S. dries up?

Mod edit to fix x.com link

 

[PPCLI Guy]

I note that the force package is well situated to piss off Venezuela, and also to invade Panama....

 

[brihard]

I note that the force package is well situated to piss off Venezuela, and also to invade Panama....

Yup. Several various points of influence from this.

I have no idea what legal authority would allow a strike of this sort; way too much info missing.

 

[Jarnhamar]

An estimate 639 tons of cocaine moved through Venezuela in 2024. Looks like around 24% of cocaine (globally) comes out out of there.

Sinking those ships isn't a terrible loss, local fish and whales might get a little fucked up though.

 

[The Bread Guy]

I note that the force package is well situated to piss off Venezuela, and also to invade Panama....

That was noticed elsewhere, too.

US warships head to Venezuela: Fight against cartels or imperial ambition?

Venezuela is sending troops to its border with Colombia to fight drug trafficking amid mounting US pressure.

www.aljazeera.com

Between that and this about 3 weeks ago or so ...
"President Trump has secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that his administration has deemed terrorist organizations, according to people familiar with the matter ..."
... time for some

Usual initial report caveats:

US military strikes vessel carrying drugs from Venezuela, Trump says

Mr Trump said the Pentagon would soon be providing further details. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

www.straitstimes.com

US conducts ‘lethal strike’ against drug boat from Venezuela, Rubio says

Trump says ‘we took it out’ amid US-Caracas tensions but not clear if incident occurred inside Venezuelan waters

www.theguardian.com

Trump says US has carried out strike against drug-carrying vessel that departed from Venezuela

President Donald Trump says the U.S. has carried out a strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug-carrying vessel that departed from Venezuela.

apnews.com

Trump announces US military conducted 'lethal strike' on Venezuelan drug boat in Caribbean

The U.S. military conducted a lethal strike against a Venezuelan drug vessel operated by a narco-terrorist organization, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed.

www.foxnews.com

Trump says US forces 'shot' drug-carrying boat that had left Venezuela

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that US forces had attacked a boat carrying drugs from Venezuela and "took it out," in a potentially significant escalation in the standoff between Caracas and Washington.

www.france24.com

Maduro threatens 'republic in arms' if US forces attack Venezuela

The Venezuelan leader accused US President Donald Trump of attempting to orchestrate a regime change in Caracas, warning him that any attack on his country would be immoral, absolutely criminal and pose a “bloody threat”.View on euronews

ca.news.yahoo.com

Nothing on POTUS47's socials as of this post.

 

[Haggis]

Did Trump just watch "Clear and Present Danger" on NetFlix?

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Not a lot of info on this yet but apparently Arturo announced today, with little detail, that the U.S. military launched a “lethal strike” in the southern Caribbean against an alleged drug vessel leaving Venezuela.

TONS of info I’d like to know on this one, but I suspect this is the start of a campaign. US Navy has been massing in the Caribbean recently. I’ve titled the thread in anticipation of further events and discussions involving future similar events.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1962955959195537618

An immediate concern I have- if there’s a prospect that the U.S. military will be used to unilaterally strike criminal targets with lethal effect, will that impact criminal (not military) intelligence sharing by other nations including us? And then downstream reciprocal impacts if intelligence sharing to the U.S. dries up?

Mod edit to fix x.com link

From what I've been reading, there was a distinct level of unco-operation between the US and Canada already. What with the RCMP refusing to share, even when the original warning came unsolicited from the US.

Personally, I wouldn’t much mind a couple of A-10s visiting any of our confirmed drug labs. And I certainly wouldn't shed a tear if something bad happened to Maduro.

 

[brihard]

From what I've been reading, there was a distinct level of unco-operation between the US and Canada already. What with the RCMP refusing to share, even when the original warning came unsolicited from the US.

Personally, I wouldn’t much mind a couple of A-10s visiting any of our confirmed drug labs. And I certainly wouldn't shed a tear if something bad happened to Maduro.

There’s a ton of criminal intelligence sharing between Canada and the U.S., as well as other allies. Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group is very much a going concern.

The risk to Canada and other allies is if we share criminal intelligence with the intent that it support pure intelligence gathering, or overt investigative and court actions, but then it gets someone extrajudicially killed because of how the U.S. are blending their concepts of organized crime and foreign terrorist groups. Proper caveats on the intelligence would generally be relied upon to control further dissemination and end use. Hopefully such caveats can continue to be relied upon.

 

[Navy_Pete]

An estimate 639 tons of cocaine moved through Venezuela in 2024. Looks like around 24% of cocaine (globally) comes out out of there.

Sinking those ships isn't a terrible loss, local fish and whales might get a little fucked up though.

Assuming it actually was carrying anything; their approach to designating random people gang members and terrorists for deportation isn't really encouraging.

Also blowing up a ship where you could easily board it with the forces in the area is insane and actually seize the cocaine (if it's there) is insane..

 

[brihard]

Marco Rubio posted a brief video on Twitter that looks like a speedboat getting smoked by a single small explosive munition:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1962992360822104110

 

[Lumber]

Marco Rubio posted a brief video on Twitter that looks like a speedboat getting smoked by a single small explosive munition:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1962992360822104110

I'm trying to figure out what the hell they hit it with.

Honestly, it looks more like a bomb went off.

The only thing that would make an explosion that small would be, that I can think off, a Hellfire or a round from a 5inch gun. The problem with the idea of it being a round from a 5" is how accurate the "hit" would have to be for that explosion to occur where it did, and I'm dubious about that. For a hellfire, I would think that you would see portion of the explosion (and the associated debris) projected past the boat along the same direction that the missile was flying when it hit it. Instead, this explosion seems very symmetrical and "straight up".

So, if it was a Hellfire, it would have to have been dropped (I think) from almost directly above the boat, or else it looks like a bomb was planted and they blew this boat up at this moment with the cameras rolling for propaganda.

Thoughts, anyone?

Also, welcome back, Gunboat Diplomacy.

 

[brihard]

I'm trying to figure out what the hell they hit it with.

Honestly, it looks more like a bomb went off.

The only thing that would make an explosion that small would be, that I can think off, a Hellfire or a round from a 5inch gun. The problem with the idea of it being a round from a 5" is how accurate the "hit" would have to be for that explosion to occur where it did, and I'm dubious about that. For a hellfire, I would think that you would see portion of the explosion (and the associated debris) projected past the boat along the same direction that the missile was flying when it hit it. Instead, this explosion seems very symmetrical and "straight up".

So, if it was a Hellfire, it would have to have been dropped (I think) from almost directly above the boat, or else it looks like a bomb was planted and they blew this boat up at this moment with the cameras rolling for propaganda.

Thoughts, anyone?

Also, welcome back, Gunboat Diplomacy.

Frigged if I know, save for ‘small and precise’.

 

[The Bread Guy]

... it would have to have been dropped (I think) from almost directly above the boat, or else it looks like a bomb was planted and they blew this boat up at this moment with the cameras rolling for propaganda ...

Old fart guess: boom-boom drone?

 

[SeaKingTacco]

I'm trying to figure out what the hell they hit it with.

Honestly, it looks more like a bomb went off.

The only thing that would make an explosion that small would be, that I can think off, a Hellfire or a round from a 5inch gun. The problem with the idea of it being a round from a 5" is how accurate the "hit" would have to be for that explosion to occur where it did, and I'm dubious about that. For a hellfire, I would think that you would see portion of the explosion (and the associated debris) projected past the boat along the same direction that the missile was flying when it hit it. Instead, this explosion seems very symmetrical and "straight up".

So, if it was a Hellfire, it would have to have been dropped (I think) from almost directly above the boat, or else it looks like a bomb was planted and they blew this boat up at this moment with the cameras rolling for propaganda.

Thoughts, anyone?

Also, welcome back, Gunboat Diplomacy.

Small diameter bomb, dropped almost vertically from Predator?

 

[OldSolduer]

Did Trump just watch "Clear and Present Danger" on NetFlix?

I was gonna say his advisors read the book and expanded on it.

I will say I am not upset by this. Maybe the stupidity but I like the intent.

 

[brihard]

Small diameter bomb, dropped almost vertically from Predator?

Could fit.

 

[KevinB]

The Hush-A-Boom.

 

[KevinB]

If you go frame by frame you can see the delivery system and it’s telemetry data just before it’s detonation. The telemetry is blurred out but the object is visible.

 

[markppcli]

Small diameter bomb, dropped almost vertically from Predator?

APKWS can be fired from the air. There’s also AGM 176s that are pretty low yeild. SDBs on a fast moving target seems less likely. Even the 39 BB is going to have a hard time tracking that speed I’d imagine. Of course I’m just basing that off conversations and am not the expert.

 

[KevinB]

Hellfire from a Predator is my best iPhone screen guess atm, I put a picture of the frame just as the missile came in.

Not at my desktop currently. So I would not guarantee it, but the explosion pattern tracks given the AOA.