The legal analysis rests on a premise for which there is no immediate public evidence that the cartels are waging armed violence against the security forces of allies like Mexico, and that the violence is financed by cocaine shipments. As a result, according to the legal analysis, the strikes are targeting the cocaine, and the deaths of anyone on board should be treated as an enemy casualty or collateral damage if any civilians are killed, rather than murder.
President Donald Trump disclosed Tuesday that the U.S. government had "knocked off" what he said was a total of three alleged drug smuggling boats, all apparently from Venezuela, a country whose leader his administration has villainized while dramatically escalating the use of deadly force in a bid to disrupt the Latin American narcotics trade. The president, speaking to reporters outside the White House, offered no other details about the previously undisclosed incident.