Since the first drug boat was taken out by the United States on September 2nd, 2025, there has been a vicious debate about the legality, as well as the ethics surrounding the decision to kill people in the middle of the ocean who are attempting to transport poison into our country. Since the first strike, the United States has taken out over 20 drug boats, making the activity a focal point for attacks on the Trump administration’s decisions.
For decades, drug policy has leaned heavily on land-based enforcement like border checkpoints, port inspections, and arrests after the fact. While those efforts matter, they are obviously not stopping the flow of drugs into our country. In 2024, over 80,000 people died of drug overdoses in the United States. To put that into perspective, that’s twice as many people who died in car accidents in America during the same time period.
A single drug smuggling boat can carry tons of chemicals used to make deadly doses of drugs. By the time the drugs reach a street corner in America, they have already crossed thousands of miles of ocean, somehow made it to land and exposed the fact that taking out drug boats is easiest before the drugs ever reach our country.
The ocean is not a lawless void. International law allows countries to intercept unflagged vessels and pursue traffickers under bilateral agreements and take action against transnational criminal organizations that threaten public safety. The United States already does this, as do our allies all over the globe. The real challenge is scale and consistency.
Traffickers know the gaps and how to be successful. They use go-fast boats, fishing boats and submarines precisely because enforcement is lax and intermittent. When enforcement pressure rises in one area, they shift routes. This is how they do business, and they have become very good at it over the years.
Critics argue that strikes at sea risk escalation or collateral damage. That concern deserves consideration. Every action must be governed by clear rules of engagement, robust intelligence and strict adherence to international law. The goal is interdiction, not arrest and seizure. That is an aspect of the situation people fail to recognize and one the United States is abiding by.
Others argue that supply side enforcement never works and that the demand of people using drugs in America is what drives the market. Demand matters, but so does supply. These are not mutually exclusive truths. Public health efforts, rehabilitation and prevention must continue and remain a high priority. But when drug shipments are lost, costs rise, reliability falls, and drug organizations are left scrambling and disrupted.
Drug boats do not just carry poison. They finance corruption, empower terrorist organizations and destabilize countries. Expanded maritime enforcement, done in partnership with our allies, strengthens the effort rather than undermining it. Joint operations with allies, shared intelligence and capacity building can turn interdiction into a very effective defense against organized crime and terrorism. One thing is for certain, if you’re a drug smuggler, you are going to think twice about getting on a boat full of drugs and attempting to cross the ocean, especially these days.
The unfortunate reality about drug smuggling is that every successful drug smuggling mission funds the next one. Every missed interception strengthens their business model. The United States should not accept a status quo, where traffickers and terrorists enjoy freedom of the seas while families in America pay the devastating price.
For those who are dismayed by the proactive destruction of drug boats, I encourage you to talk to the families who have lost loved ones due to the poison these terrorist organizations have brought into America. Their criminal activity has destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives and its impact will be felt for generations to come.
The bold strategy being implemented to combat the war on drugs and war on terrorism is unprecedented, but welcomed change by many Americans, including myself. We know the terrorists who are on these boats. We know what is being carried on these boats. And it’s time for an ongoing and consistent strategy to save the lives of Americans.
Chris Thompson’s (christhompsnh@gmail.com) column is published weekly on howiecarrshow.com and graniteeaglepress.com