The US military carried out more strikes on alleged drug traffickers in the Eastern Pacific as the White House ramped up its campaign on what it alleges are narcoterrorist groups.
The US — which for months has been carrying out attacks off the coast of South America that critics argue are illegal — said three vessels had been hit, killing eight people.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump announced that fentanyl would be classified as a weapon of mass destruction, a move that expands Washington’s authority to crack down on the synthetic opioid’s trade, while raising the risk of the war on drugs expanding far beyond South America: The vast majority of US-bound fentanyl is produced in Mexico by cartels using Chinese precursor chemicals.
