A US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) assessment has found that the Trump administration's months-long military campaign against alleged drug trafficking boats has failed to reduce the supply of cocaine entering the US, according to a report on Monday.
According to the Washington Post, DEA analysts have found the deadly strikes on small boats in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific Ocean, which began last September, did not reduce the supply or price of cocaine in the US, but instead led traffickers to adapt to larger boats and routes closer to coastlines, where US forces are less likely to open fire.
"When you squeeze the balloon on one side, it always expands on the other side," one anonymous DEA official was quoted as saying.
"They always find the weak spots and exploit them," the official added.
Pentagon officials told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month that cocaine seized in the operation's target areas continues to show high purity levels, an indicator that supply has not meaningfully declined, it reported, citing a congressional aide familiar with the briefing.
Trump previously claimed that the strikes had stopped 98.2% of drugs coming into the country by ocean.
The White House defended the operations, saying the measures "have not only eliminated narcoterrorists themselves, but also discouraged bad actors from trying to smuggle drugs," according to the Post.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Operation Southern Spear was doing "exactly what it was designed to do: detect, disrupt and dismantle designated terrorist organizations and the networks they rely on to traffic narcotics, generate illicit revenue, and threaten the security of the United States and the Western Hemisphere."
US forces have struck at least 67 boats and killed at least 221 people since the campaign began in September 2025.
In addition to questions about their efficacy, human rights groups, US Democratic lawmakers, international bodies, and South American countries have voiced concerns about whether the strikes are illegal or amount to extrajudicial murder.
The Defense Department has not released any evidence that the boats were carrying drugs, and as those on board had no chance to defend themselves, critics argue destroying the boats amounts to summary execution.
Congress—which under the Constitution has the sole authority to declare war—did not authorize the attacks on the boats.
