Overview
- The Washington Post on July 27 published a DEA assessment that found Operation Southern Spear’s months of strikes did not materially reduce the amount, purity, or price of cocaine reaching the United States.
- U.S. forces have carried out at least 67 strikes that news reports say killed at least 221 people while traffickers shifted to larger coastal vessels, clandestine aircraft, and alternate routes to evade attacks.
- DEA analysts and other officials say early price spikes reversed within months and supply returned to prior levels, evidence that interdiction at sea was blunted by trafficker adaptation.
- The campaign has disrupted U.S. investigative work because informants were withdrawn for fear of being caught in strikes, senior military leaders have called the strikes probably not the most effective tool, and rights groups say the killings raise extrajudicial and legal concerns.
- The UNODC reports record global cocaine production and experts say the findings point to limits of maritime strikes, likely prompting increased congressional and inspector general scrutiny and renewed calls to focus on source and demand strategies.