<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-inner-article-top"><h1 class="gmail-">Deadly US strikes hit eastern Pacific hours after Washington labels Fentanyl \u2018WMD\u2019</h1><p class="gmail-">Narcotics
experts and reports from the DEA have refuted Trump\u2019s claims that the
Fentanyl entering the US originates from Venezuela</p><div class="gmail-another-name"><p><a href="https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9" style="color:rgb(164,4,4)">News Desk</a></p></div><div class="gmail-another-name" style="margin-top:16px"><p><span style="color:rgb(84,88,94)">DEC 16, 2025 - </span><font size="1"><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/deadly-us-strikes-hit-eastern-pacific-hours-after-washington-labels-fentanyl-wmd">https://thecradle.co/articles/deadly-us-strikes-hit-eastern-pacific-hours-after-washington-labels-fentanyl-wmd</a></font></p></div></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-img"><img src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles/c4cdf548-da80-11f0-aa60-00163e02c055.webp" alt="" width="521" height="293" style="margin-right: 0px;"><span>(Photo credit: AFP)</span></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-content"><div class="gmail-row"><div class="gmail-col-md-8 gmail-col-sm-7"><div class="gmail-article-content"><span class="gmail-article-body"><p>The US military carried out an<a href="https://www.local10.com/news/politics/2025/12/15/us-military-says-strikes-on-3-boats-in-the-eastern-pacific-ocean-kill-8-people-2/"> airstrike</a>
targeting several alleged drug-trafficking boats in the eastern Pacific
Ocean late on 15 December, killing eight people just hours after US
President Donald Trump announced that Washington is officially declaring
Fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction (WMD).</p><p>The army\u2019s Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said it bombed \u201cdesignated terrorist organizations\u201d with \u201clethal kinetic strikes.\u201d</p><p>SOUTHCOM added that eight were killed \u2013 \u201cThree in the first vessel, two in the second, and three in the third.\u201d</p><p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">\u201cIntelligence
confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known
narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in
narco-trafficking,\u201d it went on to say.</span></p><p>The US Army did not provide any evidence confirming that the three boats were involved in trafficking narcotics. </p><p>A video shared by the military showed a boat moving through the water before being blown up. </p><div class="gmail-twitter-tweet gmail-twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"></div> <p>Hours
earlier, Trump announced that the US is officially declaring Fentanyl a
WMD. \u201cTwo to three hundred thousand people die every year, that we know
of, so we're formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass
destruction,\u201d Trump said.</p><div class="gmail-twitter-tweet gmail-twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"></div> <p>The
executive order stated that \u201cthe manufacture and distribution of
fentanyl, primarily performed by organized criminal networks, threatens
our national security and fuels lawlessness in our hemisphere and at our
borders.\u201d</p><p>The invasion and occupation of Iraq, which killed over a
million people, was launched under false claims that Saddam Hussein\u2019s
government possessed WMDs.</p><p>The US announcement coincides with a
continued military buildup in the Caribbean Sea and recent airstrikes on
what Washington claims are \u201cdrug boats\u201d responsible for the flow of
Fentanyl into the US.</p><p>Trump claims Venezuela is the origin of much of the Fentanyl that enters the US, a claim that has been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/us/politics/trump-venezuela-fentanyl.html">refuted</a> by narcotics experts and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) <a href="https://www.cato.org/blog/trumps-venezuela-gambit-incoherent-encore-failed-drug-war">reports</a>. </p><p>These
attacks have killed at least 93 people since September, including
innocent fishermen from Colombia, Ecuador, and Trinidad and Tobago.</p><p>On
2 September, the US bombed an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in
international waters near Venezuela. The first airstrike destroyed the
boat and killed most of the people aboard. Two unarmed survivors
clinging to wreckage were then killed in a deadly follow-up strike right
after. </p><p>Washington has come under heavy scrutiny for the \u201cdouble tap\u201d attack. The <i>Washington Post</i> reported that US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gave orders to \u201ckill everybody\u201d on board. Hegseth denied the report. </p><p>Members of Congress have <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/defense-policy-bill-includes-provision-limiting-defense-secretarys-tra-rcna248117">demanded</a>
the release of video footage showing the strike. A new defense policy
bill includes a provision on putting limits on Hegseth\u2019s 2026 travel
budget until he provides the footage of the 2 September strike.</p><p>Last week, the US seized a Venezuelan <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/venezuela-charges-washington-with-theft-piracy-after-seizure-of-oil-tanker">oil tanker</a> in the Caribbean Sea. The US had imposed sanctions on the vessel under claims it was involved in the Iranian oil trade.</p><p>The
Venezuelan Foreign Ministry strongly condemned what it said was a
\u201cblatant theft and an act of international piracy, publicly announced by
the President of the US, who confessed to the assault on an oil tanker
in the Caribbean Sea.\u201d</p><p>\u201cAlready in his 2024 campaign, [Trump]
openly stated that his objective has always been to keep Venezuelan oil
without paying any consideration in return, making it clear that the
policy of aggression against our country responds to a deliberate plan
to plunder our energy wealth,\u201d the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry added. </p><p>\u201cThe
true reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have
finally been revealed. It is not migration. It is not narcotics
trafficking. It is not democracy. It is not human rights. It has always
been about our natural wealth,\u201d the statement went on to say.</p></span></div></div></div></div>
<br></div>