The strikes have killed at least 37 people, most of them in Caribbean waters, according to US figures.
Relatives and the home governments of many of the dead deny involvement in drug-running, but experts say the killings are illegal even if they target known narcotics traffickers.
The operations have raised questions in the region about US President Donald Trump's endgame.
Is this truly another battle in the global war on drugs -- and if so, is the United States going after the right people? Or is this something geopolitically broader?
- Wrong target? -
The US administration's actions in the Caribbean "will have zero impact on drug trafficking," said Laura Bonilla of the Pares research center in Colombia, the world's biggest cocaine producer -- most of it destined for the United States.
More drugs are exported via the Pacific -- from ports in Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Ecuador -- than via the Caribbean Sea, where the strikes have been focused thus far.
According to the government in Ecuador, which is plagued by drug gangs, 70 percent of the cocaine destined for the rest of the world leaves from its Pacific ports.
After several strikes in the Caribbean, the United States on Wednesday announced its first attack in the Pacific, with at least two people reported dead.
Experts point out that transnational cartels are the primary buyers and distributors of drugs -- not the Venezuelan or Colombian groups blamed by the Trump administration.
Neither Venezuela nor Colombia, whose citizens have been targeted in the strikes, are major exporters in their own right.
Bonilla said she questions the Pentagon's assertion that guerrilla fighters from Colombia's leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) were among those killed by US forces.
"A total lie.... The ELN doesn't take boats out in the Caribbean because the ELN doesn't own the business," she said.
- Political goals? -
Leaders, analysts and citizens alike have questioned Washington's motives.
Some see the campaign as a distraction from Trump's policy problems at home, while others suspect an attempt to oust leftist Latin American leaders with whom Trump has clashed.
"This is not about Latin America. This is part of his (Trump's) narrative to justify the destruction of... competitive democracy," said Bonilla.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro -- whose last two reelection victories have been widely disputed -- has accused Washington of plotting "regime change," while Colombia's Gustavo Petro has suggested the idea of "a coup d'etat against me."
"Politically, Trump's actions are clear, as he aims to influence... the 2026 presidential elections in Colombia," Juana Cabezas, a researcher specializing in armed conflicts at non-governmental organization Indepaz, told AFP.
"But also, he seeks to establish a maximum point of control and exert power over the region in relation to Venezuela. So, clearly, there is an important geopolitical issue here."
- Counterproductive? -
In the midst of the strikes, Colombian drug traffickers have remained active on TikTok, glorifying their trade in music videos set amid coca leaf crops and drug laboratories.
"There is no perception that people are concerned," a 45-year-old former coca grower told AFP in the Cauca province, where much of Colombia's cocaine comes from.
"Those people (the narcos) are indifferent, they see it as an international show (...) that does not really affect the illicit economy."
Others say the drug lords may even benefit, if the threat of supply problems push up prices.
The strikes "do not affect anything, they continue (to produce drugs) as always," a person with close ties to an armed drug group told AFP.
"Moreover, they may even benefit as it becomes more expensive."
Cuba nabs suspected Chinese fentanyl kingpin wanted by Mexico, US
Mexico City (AFP) Oct 23, 2025 -
Cuba has arrested a suspected Chinese fentanyl kingpin who escaped from custody in Mexico and is also wanted by the United States, the Mexican government said Wednesday.
The trafficker Zhi Dong Zhang, known by the alias "Brother Wang," is alleged to have worked closely with Mexico's Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation drug cartels, designated "foreign terrorist organizations" by Washington.
His arrest was confirmed by the Security Secretariat.
Security sources told AFP it is not yet clear if the suspect will be deported from Cuba back to Mexico or a formal extradition process needs to be undertaken.
Detained in Mexico in October 2024, Zhi Dong Zhang was held in a prison in Mexico City awaiting a hearing for his extradition to the United States, where a warrant has been issued for his arrest on money laundering charges.
He was granted house arrest, from which he escaped in July.
Zhi Dong Zhang is considered "a major international money laundering operator," Mexican Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch said last year.
The trafficker was responsible for "establishing connections with other cartels for the transfer of fentanyl from China to Central America, South America, Europe, and the United States," he added.
Washington under President Donald Trump has been applying pressure on Mexico and China to curb drug trafficking, particularly of fentanyl, the powerful painkiller behind an overdose epidemic in the United States.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more powerful than heroin and much easier and cheaper to produce.
It has largely replaced heroin and prescription opioids such as oxycodone as a cause of overdoses in the United States.
President Claudia Sheinbaum's government has ramped up drug seizures under tariff pressure from Trump, who has threatened further punitive measures unless the problem is solved.
Although Mexico has been the main source of fentanyl sold in the United States, Washington has increasingly focused its attention on China-based suppliers of precursor ingredients.
From Havana, two sources close to the case told AFP the detainee would be extradited to Mexico, but did not specify a date or provide details about the process.
Communist Cuba has not officially commented on the reported arrest.
Colombian president lashes out at Trump 'executions'
Bogota (AFP) Oct 23, 2025 -
Colombia's leftist president ramped up denunciations of Donald Trump's anti-drug air strikes and swatted aside US threats to freeze hundreds of millions of dollars in aid Thursday.
Fueling a spat that threatens to shatter ties between the long-allied nations, Gustavo Petro said, "Mr Trump has slandered me and insulted Colombia."
Petro accused Trump of "carrying out extrajudicial executions" that "violate international law" by striking alleged drug-trafficking boats.
The US has destroyed nine vessels and killed at least 37 people in under two months, according to US government accounts.
"The deaths keep increasing like a taxi meter," said Petro.
At least one Colombian is among the dead, a fisherman who Petro now admits may have become involved in trafficking "intermittently" to escape poverty.
Colombia has publicly demanded that Washington halt the attacks, infuriating Trump, who has branded Petro a "thug" and drug trafficker.
As retribution, Trump has announced an end to hundreds of millions of dollars of US aid to Colombia and threatened tariffs on Colombian goods.
If enacted, the cuts would stifle decades of security cooperation to curb the flow of cocaine from the world's biggest producer, Colombia, to its biggest consumer, the United States.
- 'Seize oil wells' -
Petro dismissed the impact of aid cuts, saying the cash goes to fund US non-governmental groups and to buy US arms.
"What happens if they take away the aid? In my opinion, nothing," he said.
The United States provided Colombia with almost $750 million in aid in 2023, according to US figures.
There are growing fears among Colombia's allies that a withdrawal of US funds could harm years-long efforts to stop the country from sliding back into conflict.
Despite peace accords a decade ago, pockets of the country are still controlled by guerrillas, cartels, and other armed groups.
The United States and other donors provide military aid as well as funding for coca eradication and demobilization projects.
Petro -- a former guerrilla who will leave office after the May elections -- has not shied away from the feud, which plays well with some of his core leftwing supporters.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt noted Petro's renewed attacks Thursday: "I don't think we're seeing a de-escalation from the unhinged leader of Colombia right now."
Petro also lashed out at Trump's September decision to put Colombia on a list of countries classified as not helping in the drug war.
Describing it as "an insult," he insisted Colombia was successfully countering cartels, despite cocaine production and exports hitting record levels.
"We have been the most effective in cocaine seizures in world history," Petro claimed, adding that Trump was being fed misinformation by his opponents on Colombia's "far right."
He said they aimed to influence Colombia's 2026 presidential election, to "strike Colombian progressivism and seize oil wells" in Venezuela.
Trump has said he is preparing attacks against traffickers operating on land, claiming maritime routes are being reduced.
"Any ground aggression is invasion and a rupture of national sovereignty," warned Petro.
Behind the scenes diplomats from both countries have been working to keep relations form rupturing completely.
On Thursday a string of Colombian ministers met with the top US diplomat in Bogota, for what the Colombian foreign ministry called a "frank dialogue."
They announced Colombia's ambassador to the United States Daniel Garcia-Pena would return to Washington, after being recalled in protest.
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