Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers, Operation Southern Spear, Operation Absolute Resolve

Beginning on Sept. 2, 2025, the United States military has carried out a series of unprecedented strikes against vessels suspected of narcotics trafficking in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. The Trump administration has claimed it is in a “non-international armed conflict” with unspecified gangs and drug cartels, governed by the law of armed conflict. On Jan. 3, 2026,, the United States conducted a military operation capturing President Nicolás Maduro and bringing him to the United States for criminal prosecution.

In this collection, experts analyze the legality of these various operations under domestic and international law. 

On the boast strikes, the articles address how suspected narcotics trafficking at sea is normally addressed by the U.S. government and how these strikes may deviate from that practice, the consequences for when and how the president may unilaterally order the military to employ lethal force, the applicability of domestic criminal laws prohibiting murder and international human rights law prohibiting extrajudicial killing, and a range of related issues.

On the Maduro operation, the essays cover international and domestic law and policy.

The collection also includes analysis of the boarding and seizure of vessels, including U.S. sanctioned oil tankers.

Informational Resources

• Jeremy Chin, Margaret Lin, and Aidan Arasasingham, Timeline of Boat Strikes and Related Actions (continually updated)
• Marie Miller, U.S. Allies and Adversaries’ Reactions to Operation Absolute Resolve to Capture Maduro: UN Security Council Emergency Meeting

Operation Absolute Resolve and Threats of Force against Venezuela

• Rebecca Ingber, The Trump Administration’s Theory of Constitutional War Powers: “The President Could Decide” (Mar. 2, 2026)
• Jeffrey Rogg, U.S. Intelligence in a Post-Maduro Venezuela (Jan. 9, 2026)
• Brian Egan, Tess Bridgeman, and Ryan Goodman, Congress, the President, and the Use of Military Force in Venezuela (Jan. 7, 2026)
• Chimène Keitner, Head of State Immunity and Maduro on Trial (Jan. 6, 2026)
• Michael Schmitt, Ryan Goodman and Tess Bridgeman, International Law and the U.S. Military and Law Enforcement Operations in Venezuela (Jan. 4, 2026)
• Ryan Goodman, Maduro Capture Operation and the President’s Duty to Faithfully Execute U.N. Charter Assessment of 1989 OLC Opinion (Jan. 3, 2026)
• Michael Schmitt, U.S. Saber Rattling and Venezuela: Lawful Show of Force or Unlawful Threat of Force? (Nov. 4, 2025)

Seizure and Blockade of Vessels (Domestic and International Law)

• Rob McLaughlin, Connor McLaughlin, and Michael Schmitt, The Law of Naval Warfare and the U.S. Capture of Neutral Merchant Vessels: The Case of the Marinera (Jan. 29, 2026)
• Rob McLaughlin and Connor McLaughlin, A Law of the Sea Assessment of the U.S. boarding of the Bella 1 / Marinera (Jan. 14, 2026)
• Rob McLaughlin and Tess Bridgeman, The Just Security Podcast: Can the U.S. Seize Russian Flagged Oil Tankers? (Jan. 8, 2026)
• Elizabeth Hutton, Maritime Law Enforcement on the High Seas: Authority, Jurisdiction, and the Seizure of The Skipper An Expert Backgrounder (Dec. 22, 2025)
• Michael Schmitt and Rob McLaughlin, Blockading Venezuela: The International Law Consequences (Dec. 18, 2025)
• Rob McLaughlin and Connor McLaughlin, Was the Visit and Seizure of the Skipper off the Coast of Venezuela Lawful? (Dec. 17, 2025)
• See also Question 31 in Tess Bridgeman, Michael Schmitt, and Ryan Goodman, Expert Q&A on the U.S. Boat Strikes (Dec. 13, 2025)

Operation Southern Spear and Related Operations Legal Analysis (Domestic and International Law)

• Orlando J. Pérez, The Shield of the Americas Is the Trump Corollary’s Military Edge (March 16, 2026)
• Brian Finucane, Did the United States Just Bomb Ecuador? (March 13, 2026)
• Miles Jackson, Arbitrary Killings or War Crimes? Why It Matters How the U.S. Strikes in the Caribbean Are Categorized (Feb. 2, 2026)
• Edward Swaine, Can the U.S. Government Be Sued for Wrongful Death in a Caribbean Boat Strike? (Jan. 29, 2026)
• Michael Schmitt, Using an Unmarked Aircraft to Attack an Alleged Drug Boat: Is it Perfidy? (Jan. 20, 2026)
• Michael Schmitt, Marko Milanovic, The International Law Obligation to Investigate the Boat Strikes (Dec. 15, 2025)
• Tess Bridgeman, Michael Schmitt, and Ryan Goodman, Expert Q&A on the U.S. Boat Strikes (Dec. 13, 2025)
• Mark Nevitt, The Law on Targeting Shipwrecked Drug Traffickers: Expert Backgrounder (Dec. 11, 2025)
• Michael Schmitt, Ryan Goodman and Tess Bridgeman, Operation Southern Spear: Why the Crews, Drugs, and Boats are Not Targetable (Dec. 7, 2025)
• Michael Schmitt, Ryan Goodman and Tess Bridgeman, Unlawful Orders and Killing Shipwrecked Boat Strike Survivors: An Expert Backgrounder (Dec. 1, 2025)
• Daniel Maurer, Hypothetical Legal Review of Narcotrafficking Strikes (Nov. 18, 2025)
• Michael Schmitt, Marko Milanovic, and Ryan Goodman, The International Law Obligation of States to Stop Intelligence Support for U.S. Boat Strikes (Nov. 17, 2025)
• Brian Finucane, Dissecting the Trump Administration’s Effort to Circumvent the War Powers Resolution for Boat Strikes (Nov. 3, 2025)
• Rebecca Ingber and Jessica Thibodeau, Expert Backgrounder on War Powers Resolution 60-Day Clock for Boat Strikes Expiring Monday (October 31, 2025)
• Ryan Goodman, Michael Schmitt and Anna Jimenez, Irreconcilable Presidential Determinations: On Tren de Aragua and the Venezuelan Government (October 29, 2025)
• Michael Schmitt, Attacking Drug Cartels in the Territory of Another State (Oct. 17, 2025)
• Marty Lederman, Legal Flaws in the Trump Administration’s Notice to Congress on “Armed Conflict” with Drug Cartels (Oct. 3, 2025)
• Daniel Maurer, US Servicemembers’ Exposure to Criminal Liability for Lethal Strikes on Narcoterrorists (Sept. 24, 2025)
• Marty Lederman, The Many Ways in Which the September 2 Caribbean Strike was Unlawful … and the Grave Line the Military Has Crossed (Sept. 10, 2025)
• Michael Schmitt, Striking Drug Cartels Under the Jus ad Bellum and Law of Armed Conflict (Sept. 10, 2025)
• Mark Nevitt, Using Labels, Not Law, to Justify Lethal Force: Inside the Venezuelan Boat Strike (Sept. 5, 2025)
• Brian Finucane, Legal Issues Raised by a Lethal U.S. Military Attack in the Caribbean (Sept. 3, 2025)

Congressional Actions and Oversight

• Tess Bridgeman and Brian Finucane, War Powers, Venezuela, Drug Boats, and Congress (Jan. 12, 2026)
• Tess Bridgeman, Margaret Donovan and Ryan Goodman, U.S. Boat Strike Campaign: Questions Congress Should Ask Executive Branch Officials (Dec. 4, 2025)
• Stephen R. Weissman, Will the Intelligence Committees Meet the Challenge of CIA Covert Action in Venezuela? (Oct. 31, 2025)
• Mary B. McCord and Tess Bridgeman, What the Senate Judiciary Committee Should Ask A.G. Bondi on Drug Cartel Strikes (Oct. 3, 2025)

Policy Analysis and Opinion

• Mark Nevitt, Killing Shipwrecked Survivors is Not Just Illegal—It Endangers U.S. Servicemembers (Dec. 1, 2025)
• Eugene R. Fidell, Daniel Maurer and Steven J. Lepper, Professional Responsibility and the Boat Strikes (Dec. 1, 2025)
• Brett Max Kaufman, From Secret Law (2001-2024) to None at All (2025-present) (Nov. 21, 2025)
• Sarah Harrison and Mark Nevitt, The Caribbean Strikes and the Collapse of Legal Oversight in U.S. Military Operations (Oct. 23, 2025)
• Ben Saul, The United States’ Dirty War on “Narco Terrorism” (Sept. 22, 2025)
• Annie Shiel, John Ramming Chappell, Priyanka Motaparthy, Wells Dixon and Daphne Eviatar, Murder by Drone: The Legal and Moral Stakes of the Caribbean Strikes (Sept. 17, 2025)
• Brian Finucane, Asserting a License to Kill: Why the Caribbean Strike is a Dangerous Departure from the “War on Terror (Sept. 15, 2025)

Podcast Episodes

• Tess Bridgeman, Rob Mclaughlin, The Just Security Podcast: Can the U.S. Seize Russian Flagged Oil Tankers? (Jan. 8, 2026, also available on YouTube)
• Tess Bridgeman, Rachel Goldbrenner, Rebecca Ingber and Brian Finucane, The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas Part IV (Dec. 2, 2025)
• Tess Bridgeman, Brian Finucane, Rebecca Ingber, The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas Part III  (Oct. 21, 2025, also available on YouTube)
• Tess Bridgeman, Brian Finucane, Rachel Goldbrenner, Rebecca Ingber, The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas Part II — What We Know about U.S. Vessel Strikes One Month In (Oct. 7, 2025)
• Tess Bridgeman, Brian Finucane, Rebecca Ingber, The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas? What You Need to Know about the U.S. Strike on the Caribbean Vessel (Sept. 9, 2025, also available on YouTube)

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