Tuesday's U.S. military strike in the Caribbean, which killed 11 people, marks an extraordinary escalation in the decades-long war on drugs. For the first time, the U.S. military directly destroyed a suspected drug vessel and killed its occupants rather than attempting to interdict and arrest them. The core issue isn't just the policy shift—it's that by reclassifying profit-driven criminal organizations as "terrorists," the administration has created a pathway to summary execution without trial.
The strike targeted what officials described as a "go-fast" boat operated by Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organization. Trump posted declassified video of the boat being struck and exploding, promising "There's more where that came from."
When CNN asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the legal authority for militarily targeting the cartels, his response was telling: "I'm not going to answer for the White House counsel, suffice it to say that all of those steps were taken in advance."
The Summary Execution Problem
The fundamental issue is this: suspected drug traffickers, regardless of their violence or the scale of their operations, are still entitled to arrest, trial, and due process under both U.S. and international law. By redesignating them as "terrorists," the Trump administration has bypassed the entire judicial system and authorized their killing on sight.
This isn't a minor procedural change. International law provides clear frameworks for addressing drug trafficking through law enforcement cooperation, extradition treaties, and judicial processes—not military strikes that kill suspected criminals without trial. The September 2 strike constitutes summary execution: the killing of individuals without legal proceedings, which violates international human rights law regardless of the crimes they may have committed.
The Wall Street Journal reports that traditional U.S. Coast Guard policies for stopping drug-trafficking vessels are designed to preserve life. Coast Guard cutters carry law-enforcement detachments led by officers with legal training who attempt to get crews to stop and surrender. As former U.S. ambassador John Feeley explained: "Everything is done to preserve life. What we don't do is just shoot up boats... We can shoot in self-defense, but we rarely do that because most narcos just give up." The Coast Guard then searches boats for drugs, noting "You don't know if there are drugs on board until after you board."
The September 2 strike represents a complete abandonment of this approach in favor of killing first and asking questions never.
A Pattern of Reclassification
This isn't an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern where the executive branch reclassifies problems to access extraordinary powers. Trade disputes become "national security emergencies" to justify tariffs. Urban crime becomes grounds for military deployment in American cities. Drug cartels become "terrorists" to enable summary execution.
Each reclassification technically stays within existing legal frameworks while dramatically expanding how those frameworks operate. The common thread: normal democratic processes and legal constraints are bypassed by redefining the problem to fit a preferred solution.