This is how it’s done:

A semi-submersible vessel was recently seized at sea by Portuguese police and naval authorities, who surrounded the boat, boarded her, arrested the four crew members, and seized 1.7 tons of Class A cocaine.

The narco-sub, which was bound for the Iberian peninsula, was operated by two Ecuadorians, a Venezuelan and a Colombian, who were remanded in pretrial custody following a court appearance in the Azores on Tuesday.

And that — for the benefit of U.S. officials — is how it should be done. Yes, they were in international waters, some 1,000 nautical miles off the coast of Lisbon, Portugal. But it was accomplished on the basis of reliable information received by the Lisbon-based Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre, with the backing of the UK’s National Crime Agency and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. [James Gregory, BBC, November 4, 2025.]

It was not a small boat “suspected” of carrying drugs; it was not blown out of the water by a missile launched from afar; and no one was killed or injured.

The suspects have received a preliminary hearing, and will be given due process of law . . . though 1.7 tons of coke should be sufficient to guarantee a conviction.

Following seizure of the vessel, it was found that it was incapable of being towed back to shore due to poor weather conditions and the “fragile construction” of the sub, and it sank at sea. Vitor Ananias, head of Portugal’s police anti-drug-trafficking unit, told reporters:

“ . . . between the heat, the vessel’s fumes and high waves, with difficult weather conditions, even one day is tricky [for the four men on board]. By the end of 15 or 20 days all you want is to get out.” [Id.]

It sounds as though being arrested may actually have saved the lives of the four accused criminals — certainly a better option than being blown to bits.

*. *. *

Few people would argue against the dangers of illegal drug-running, or the need to put the multi-national drug cartels out of business. But the existence of the problem is not an excuse for cold-blooded murder.

Nor is the use of remotely-launched weaponry justifiable by saying it was done that way to ensure the safety of the U.S. military involved in the attack.

No Portuguese police or naval officers were injured in the seizure of the much larger vessel in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Surely, U.S. military personnel are equally competent. It hardly seems necessary to deploy the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS GERALD R. FORD, to troll the waters of the Caribbean in search of more victims. Yet that is what Donald Trump has done.

Thus far, some 66 people have been wiped out in the course of 16 such strikes, with no evidence or substantial details being offered by the administration to justify the actions. But Trump has rationalized the deaths by saying the United States is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

And Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, while on a recent trip to Asia, posted:

“We will find and terminate EVERY vessel with the intention of trafficking drugs to America to poison our citizens.” [The Associated Press, November 5, 2025.]

That is what he said: “find and terminate” . . . as though he were talking about a fantasy movie, with himself in the role of Hellboy.

But those 66 people — criminals or not — were human beings, not characters in a film. And they were not given a chance to defend themselves in a court of law.

So would someone please tell me: What ever happened to “truth, justice, and the American way”?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
11/6/25