Disguised U.S. Military Plane Attack on Suspected Drug Boat Violates International Law

The Pentagon used a military aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane to attack a boat off the coast of Venezuela in September -- the Trump administration claimed the boat was transporting drugs -- and that deception violates international law, The New York Times reports.

This is one of the attacks that is already controversial -- after the initial bombing, a second strike was ordered, killing two survivors who were clinging to the hull of the destroyed boat. That is considered a war crime.

The bombing of unconfirmed criminal suspect boats and their occupants is also legally questionable in international maritime law.

The aircraft used in the Sept. 2, 2025 attack -- which killed 11 people -- reportedly flew low enough for the boat's passengers to see it ... meaning they would have been under the impression it was a civilian plane. The plane's munitions were also concealed, according to the report.

Legal specialists told the NYT that's vital ... as the laws of armed conflict prohibit combatants from pretending to be civilians to trick adversaries into lowering their defenses before attacking them, which is a war crime known as "perfidy."

The type of aircraft used in the attack hasn't been publicly revealed.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly issued a statement defending the strike -- President Donald Trump has called these attacks acts of war against drug cartels -- and described it as "fully consistent with the law of armed conflict."