Mimi Swaby

So according to the US military, they say their intelligence services had confirmed that these three boats in the eastern Pacific were carrying narcotics.

But just like all the previous strikes we've seen, more than 20 now, they didn't provide any evidence of this.

Only a video of the explosions posted online on X. And this is now the latest attack.

Since September, we've seen more than 90

People killed in strikes in both the Caribbean and also now the East Pacific.

Now, the East Pacific is more of a common trade route for drugs travelling from South America to the US.

And we're seeing increasingly strikes happening there as well.

So these attacks are part of what the Trump administration has described as an armed conflict against drug cartels.

It has designated as terrorist organizations and it's part of its combating drug trafficking in the region.

But it does come at a time we're seeing a very large military buildup in the South Caribbean Sea.

with several vessels, including the world's largest warship, alongside thousands, about 15,000 soldiers, all kind of sitting just off the Venezuelan coast.

And this is heaping pressure on the government of Nicolas Maduro, who the Trump administration accused of heading Cartel de los Soles, which, again, they say fuels violence.

drugs from Venezuela into the U.S.

It's also argued that Colombia has failed to crack down on drug trafficking.

Now, both countries, Venezuela and Colombia, have criticized these strikes immensely.

The U.N.

has also called them extrajudicial killings.

And the Venezuelan government say that this is just a guise, this, you

isn't actually the aim of this huge operation, but the Trump administration is actually seeking regime change as well as trying to access Venezuela's very large oil reserves.

Indeed, this campaign is increasingly controversial.