Pentagon Watchdog Evaluating US Operations Involving Strikes On Alleged Drug Boats

Key points

• Pentagon Watchdog Evaluating US Operations Involving Strikes On Alleged Drug Boats Published By, Last Updated: May 19, 2026, 21:51 IST The operations fall under what the Pentagon calls “Operation Southern Spear,” a broader military effort aimed at disrupting maritime drug trafficking networks.
• The strikes have drawn sustained criticism from legal scholars, members of Congress and military lawyers.
• The US Defense Department’s internal watchdog opened an evaluation into a series of lethal maritime strikes carried out by US Southern Command, focusing on whether commanders followed approved targeting procedures in operations against alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.
• The review, confirmed in a letter dated May 11 from the Pentagon’s inspector general’s office, comes amid growing legal and political scrutiny of the campaign, which has reportedly killed more than 190 people across nearly 60 targeted boats since it began last year.
• The operations fall under what the...