Trump Bombing Campaign Fails to Stop Cocaine Flow
Donald Trump defends a 13-month military campaign against smuggling speedboats despite reports that cocaine supplies in the U.S. and Europe have reached record levels.
A 13-month bombing campaign targeting cocaine-smuggling speedboats has failed to disrupt the global flow of high-purity cocaine, according to law-enforcement officials and researchers. Donald Trump authorized the use of U.S. military drones and aircraft to destroy more than 70 vessels and kill nearly 240 crew members, an effort that deprived criminal organizations of $1.5 billion in narcotics.
Traffickers have adapted to the airstrikes by utilizing the Amazon river network, hugging the Colombian shoreline, and attaching parasite metal modules to the hulls of freighters. These shifts have allowed cocaine supplies in the United States and Europe to reach record levels, resulting in plummeting wholesale prices and purity levels as high as 98% in Europe.
President Trump has defended the initiative, claiming that drug arrivals by sea have decreased by 97%. However, critics and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime argue the policy prioritizes visibility over genuine disruption. Colombia continues to produce 70% of the world's cocaine, with new trafficking routes emerging through Suriname, Guyana, and the Paraná River.
