Smoked on the Water: U.S. Strikes Boats Hauling ‘Narcotics’ in Eastern Pacific
The U.S. military has launched a string of air and sea strikes in the eastern Pacific, targeting vessels it claims were trafficking narcotics. Yet weeks into the campaign, one crucial detail remains conspicuously absent — no one has confirmed what narcotics these boats were allegedly carrying. Were they loaded with cocaine from Colombia’s cartels? Or fentanyl components from Chinese suppliers routed through Venezuela?
Epoch Times senior investigative reporter Joshua Philipp not only knows geopolitics, but he knows China and has interviewed experts in central America with firsthand experience with cartels there. As a former speechwriter for Margaret Thatcher, Geoffrey Gilson knows global geopolitics as well, with a cutting-edge insight into what goes into decision making in high stakes
What Narcotics?
What’s clear is that this new “narco-boat” initiative marks a major escalation in America’s use of military force in the Western Hemisphere. The eastern Pacific has long been a highway for drug shipments bound for Mexico and the U.S., but kinetic military strikes — as opposed to interdictions or Coast Guard operations — represent a sharp policy turn. The administration insists the targets were tied to cartels and transnational crime networks. Colombia, however, has objected, saying U.S. forces may have killed its citizens and overstepped international law.
The regional context only thickens the intrigue. Venezuela — rich in oil, poor in allies — has once again found itself in Washington’s crosshairs. The personal animosity between President Trump and Nicolás Maduro is well documented, as is the growing nexus between Caracas, Beijing, and the Latin American narco-state economy. Cheap Venezuelan oil has become an unofficial bargaining chip in China’s Belt and Road ambitions. At the same time, fentanyl continues to ravage American communities, providing the administration with a moral justification for its militarized crackdown.
Still, the question lingers: what’s really on those boats? If the cargos were indeed fentanyl, that would implicate Chinese chemical suppliers and expand Trump’s broader confrontation with Beijing. If cocaine, it would drag the U.S. back into the complexities of Latin American drug wars and Colombia’s fragile post-peace political landscape.
For Geoff Gilson and Joshua Philipp, this story offers more than geopolitics — it’s a test of transparency, legality, and motive. Are these strikes a decisive stand against narco-trafficking, or a show of force masking something else entirely? The waters may be international, but the fallout could reach deep into U.S. politics and foreign policy alike.
Would you like to schedule Joshua for a segment this week?
Is fentanyl narcotics?
How about cocaine? Does that constitute narcotics?
Relevant Article(s)
US military strikes drug vessel traveling in the Eastern Pacific, Hegseth says | Fox News
US kills three in second strike on alleged drug boats in the Pacific
OPTIONAL Q&A:
- What evidence has the Trump administration provided to confirm what drugs were actually on board the targeted vessels?
- Could the strikes mark a shift from law enforcement operations to military engagement in the war on drugs?
- Why hasn’t the administration specified whether the narcotics were cocaine, fentanyl, or something else entirely?
- How does this escalation affect already strained U.S. relations with Venezuela and Colombia?
- Is China’s growing influence in Venezuela’s oil sector a hidden factor in these operations?
- Could targeting drug boats in the eastern Pacific be a pretext for broader strategic positioning in Latin America?
- What are the legal and diplomatic implications of killing suspected traffickers without public evidence?
- And if the cargos turn out not to be narcotics at all, what does that mean for America’s credibility in the region?
ABOUT JOSHUA PHILIPP…
Joshua Philipp is an award-winning journalist and Senior Investigative Reporter at The Epoch Times. He is the host of ‘Crossroads,’ a news and analysis program on EpochTV. His works have included breakthrough investigations into the origins of Covid-19 and the Wuhan laboratory in the early days of the pandemic. He spearheaded the first documentary on the lab leak origins of the COVID-19 virus, released in April 2020. This groundbreaking documentary garnered over 75 million views, and while many tried to label it misinformation, its findings have since been vindicated by the White House and US intelligence agencies.
ABOUT GEOFF GILSON…
Geoff Gilson is a retired lawyer, development consultant, and political strategist and speechwriter. He began his career crafting speeches for Margaret Thatcher and leveraged his dual British-US citizenship to navigate elite political circles. With decades of front-row access to senior UK and US officials, Gilson served as a key operative for the British Conservative Party, gaining unparalleled insight into global power structures.
His book, Maggie’s Hammer, is a meticulously researched and gripping exposé that unravels a complex web of money laundering, arms deals, and political collusion, that leads all the way to connections between Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, Margaret Thatcher, and Vladimir Putin.
Gilson’s 30-year investigation traces covert operations from the Iran-Iraq War to Russian financial schemes, revealing covert ties to Robert Maxwell, Israeli Intelligence, and the Russian Mob. His particular knowledge of the links between Epstein, Trump, Russian Collusion, and Tulsi Gabbard’s Report, combined with his firsthand knowledge of UK-US relations, Iran, and Israel, make him an exceptional podcast guest.
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