“It’s been a year of murders,” an unnamed defense official said in a new interview
Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; U.S. Southern Command
NEED TO KNOW
- Over 200 civilians have reportedly been killed in U.S. military strikes targeting alleged drug boats since September 2025
- Critics, including former officials, have called the strikes unlawful and equated them to premeditated murder
- U.S. Southern Command denies wrongdoing, stating all operations comply with legal frameworks and target narcoterrorist activities
More than 200 civilians have been killed in boat strikes authorized by the Trump administration in the Caribbean and Pacific in the last year, according to a new report.
Military officials began carrying out the deadly attacks on Sept. 2, 2025, and have not stopped since, The Intercept reported on Wednesday, Sept. 2.
Credit: Doug Mills – Pool/Getty
“It’s been a year of murders,” a defense official, who was reportedly “horrified” when the first strike was carried out against alleged “drug boats,” said, per the outlet. “The Trump administration has normalized murder.”
“It’s absolutely criminal,” the official, whose identity was not publicly disclosed, added.
PEOPLE reached out to the White House for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Adm. Frank M. Bradley and his top legal adviser, Col. Cara Hamaguchi, are said to have been behind the first strike, according to the outlet.
The two allegedly watched a live video of 11 men on a speedboat before SEAL Team 6 operators were ordered to sink the vessel. Two survivors drifted at sea for approximately 45 minutes before a second attack killed them, per The Intercept.
Military officials have called those killed and others accused of trafficking drugs “lawful military targets because they generate revenue for cartels whom the Trump administration claims are engaged in a ‘non-international armed conflict’ with the United States,” the outlet added.
Another source whose identity remained anonymous said top officials are attempting to “excuse what is clearly murder.”
In a statement, U.S. Southern Command spokesperson Steven McLoud denied the accusations: “Each operation is planned and executed within the full bounds of our legal framework, ensuring that every target meets the legal criteria established by our Office of Legal Counsel.”
Still, others have voiced their disapproval of the attacks.
Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty
“There is no plausible legal justification for the strikes. They’re obviously not occurring in the context of an armed conflict and outside of armed conflict, the term for premeditated killing is murder,” Brian Finucane, former State Department lawyer and specialist in counterterrorism issues and the laws of war, told The Intercept.
Approximately 227 people have been killed in 68 strikes by the U.S. military since the Trump administration began targeting alleged “narcoterrorists” in the region, according to the Associated Press on Aug. 25.
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On Wednesday, Gen. Francis L. Donovan and the Government of Ecuador intercepted alleged drug smugglers without any fatalities, the U.S. Southern Command Commander said in a press release.
The boat was believed to be “operating as a floating refueling station in support of illicit at-sea drug trafficking operations in international waters of the Eastern Pacific,” the agency said.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was operating in support of the Los Choneros violent narco-terrorist organization,” per the release. “U.S. Marines and Sailors, launched from USS San Antonio (LPD 17), interdicted, boarded, searched, and cleared the vessel without incident. Individuals removed from the vessel are being safely transferred to Ecuadorian Authorities. Once cleared, U.S. forces sank the vessel.”
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