U.S. Military Strike on Alleged Drug Boat Kills 3 in Eastern Pacific

These strikes represent a significant shift in U.S. counternarcotics strategy, positioning drug trafficking as an armed conflict requiring military intervention. However, the campaign's legality—particularly regarding follow-up attacks on survivors—remains contested by lawmakers and legal scholars. More critically, evidence suggests the campaign may be operationally ineffective, as the vast majority of fentanyl enters the U.S. via land borders rather than maritime routes, raising questions about whether these expensive and controversial military operations are actually addressing the primary source of America's overdose crisis.