Between September 2025 and August 2026, the United States military struck 68 vessels in international waters, killing at least 223 people in a campaign it framed as self-defense against narco-terrorism. A UN special rapporteur has now concluded that those strikes violated international law, failed to meet the legal threshold for armed conflict, and may constitute crimes against humanity — a finding that places the weight of international humanitarian norms directly against the logic of militarized drug enforcement. The report raises a question as old as sovereign power itself: when a state cla
UN expert says US drug boat strikes may constitute crimes against humanity
At least 223 people killed across 68 military strikes on vessels in international waters between September 2025 and August 2026.