Kenneth Glad
The military campaign has forced trafficking groups to reconsider how they move narcotics. Government findings suggest those changes have not reduced availability in the United States.
U.S. strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels have not significantly changed cocaine availability, prices or purity in the United States, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Pentagon assessments reported by The Washington Post.
Digi24 adds that 221 people have been killed in attacks on 67 vessels since the campaign began in September 2025.
Market remains stable
The findings directly contradict President Donald Trump’s assertion that Operation Southern Spear had virtually ended maritime drug trafficking and dealt a decisive blow to cocaine shipments by sea.
Pentagon officials outlined the market assessment during a closed briefing for lawmakers, while the DEA separately examined how criminal organizations had adjusted their operations in response to the attacks, The Washington Post writes.
Despite the sustained military pressure and changes in trafficking methods, investigators found no corresponding decline in the availability, price or purity of cocaine reaching the United States.
Routes begin shifting
Trafficking groups have instead changed several of their transportation methods in response to the military campaign. The DEA assessment found that criminal organizations were relying less heavily on speedboats travelling through exposed areas of international waters.
Larger vessels, coastal passages and aircraft have become more prominent parts of the trafficking network, according to The Washington Post. An unnamed DEA official compared the effect to applying pressure to one part of a balloon, causing the activity to expand elsewhere.
The findings indicate that the operation disrupted specific maritime routes and forced traffickers to adapt their logistics. However, those changes did not produce the wider reduction in cocaine supply claimed by the administration.
Officials defend strategy
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told The Washington Post that criminal groups had adapted their tactics for decades and argued that those changes did not prove the pressure was ineffective.
Human Rights Watch has described the strikes as unlawful extrajudicial killings. The U.N. human rights office has separately said the attacks violate international human-rights law.
Human Rights Watch has also urged governments cooperating with Washington to consider whether intelligence sharing or other assistance could implicate them in unlawful operations. U.S. authorities have not publicly established the identities and alleged affiliations of many of those killed.
Sources: The Washington Post; Digi24, Human Rights Watch
