In a major development as the US deploys naval and air forces to the Caribbean and eastern Pacific to “curb drug trafficking”, the United Kingdom (UK) has decided not to share with the US some intelligence on suspected drug-trafficking vessels, CNN reported.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the report said Britain believes the US-led strikes are illegal and does not want to be complicit in US military strikes.
The intelligence was typically sent to the Joint Interagency Task Force South, a task force based in Florida, according to the report.
However, there is no confirmation from the US yet.
Over the past few weeks, President Donald Trump’s administration has carried out a series of strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific on boats Washington says were carrying drugs.
Meanwhile, an escalating military buildup, even as Venezuela warned, a US carrier strike group arrived in Latin America.
The USS Gerald Ford, which was ordered nearly three weeks ago to help fight drug trafficking, has entered the command’s area of responsibility, which includes Latin America and the Caribbean, Reuters reported, citing a statement from US Naval Forces Southern Command.
The world’s largest aircraft carrier will “strengthen America’s capacity to detect, track and disrupt illicit actors and activities that threaten the security and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,” Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said.
A few days ago, US forces killed six more people in attacks on alleged drug-trafficking boats, bringing the total number of victims of the campaign to 76.
In an announcement to Congress, the Trump administration said the US was engaged in an “armed conflict” with Latin American drug cartels, labeling them terrorist groups as part of its justification for the attacks.
Earlier, Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told AFP that the cases violated international human rights law.
Pointing out that Washington portrays the strikes as part of “anti-drug operations”, he stressed that such operations “should not raise issues of war or conflict or international humanitarian law”.
“It must be the absolute last resort in the face of an immediate attack,” Turk declared.
Asked if he believed the strikes could constitute extrajudicial killings, Turk said: “That is exactly what needs to be established and investigated.
