A United Nations human rights expert has determined that United States military attacks on suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean breach international law and may constitute crimes against humanity. The findings were released Monday by Ben Saul, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism.
According to the report, US forces struck 68 vessels in international waters between September 2025 and August 2026, resulting in the deaths of at least 223 individuals. The Pentagon has justified the campaign as an act of self-defense against “narco-terrorists,” with President Donald Trump stating Congress that the operations reflect a state of armed conflict with designated terrorist organizations.
Saul’s report explicitly rejected this legal framing. “The United States military attacks are… contrary to international law, violate the human right to life, and plausibly constitute crimes against humanity,” the document states. These conclusions emerged just two days after the US military announced it had killed four people in a separate strike in the Caribbean. Human rights organizations have condemned the operations as extrajudicial killings, noting that while the Pentagon has released video footage, it has provided little detail regarding the identities of those killed or the evidence linking them to drug trafficking.
The report argues that drug trafficking does not meet the threshold of an “armed attack” required to trigger a right to self-defense under international law. It further noted there appears to be no factual basis for the US designation of groups such as Tren de Aragua as armed proxies of the Venezuelan state. Additionally, Saul pointed out that less-lethal alternatives, such as maritime interception, remained available—a feasibility acknowledged by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Because these conditions were not met, the report concludes the attacks also violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which permits lethal force only as a last resort against an imminent threat. The killings may qualify as murder as a crime against humanity because they were carried out systematically under an organized state policy and affected a large number of victims.
Beyond the legal analysis, the report questioned the strategic efficacy of the campaign. It noted that cocaine seizures at the US border have remained steady, while most of the region’s cocaine is transported via uninspected container ships rather than the small boats targeted by the military. The strikes also fail to address fentanyl and opioids, which are the leading cause of overdose deaths and are not typically trafficked by sea from Venezuela.
Saul’s report suggested that eliminating low-level suspects may undermine broader efforts to dismantle cartel networks and prosecute leadership. The military operations are estimated to have cost US$4.7 billion by mid-2026—funds that could have been redirected toward evidence-based law enforcement, public health initiatives, and developmental interventions. The report calls on the US to investigate the killings, prosecute those responsible including political and military leaders, and provide reparations to the families of victims.
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