UK stops some US intelligence sharing over drug boat strikes, reports say

The UK has reportedly stopped sharing intelligence with the US on suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean, according to ITV News affiliate CNN.

CNN said sources familiar with the matter had raised concerns about the UK being complicit in US military strikes it considers illegal.

It marks a significant break from its closest ally and intelligence-sharing partner and highlights growing scepticism over the legality of the US military’s campaign in Latin America.

For years, the UK, which controls several territories in the Caribbean where it bases intelligence assets, has helped the US identify vessels suspected of carrying drugs, allowing the US Coast Guard to intercept them.

This typically involved stopping and boarding the boats, detaining their crews, and seizing the drugs, according to sources.

The intelligence was usually shared with the Joint Interagency Task Force South, a Florida-based unit that includes representatives from several partner nations and works to combat the illicit drug trade.

However, after the US began launching lethal strikes against suspected trafficking boats in September, the UK became concerned that its intelligence could be used to select targets.

British officials reportedly believe the strikes, which have killed 76 people, violate international law. The UK halted its intelligence sharing more than a month ago, sources said.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk said last month that the strikes breach international law and amount to “extrajudicial killings,” a view the UK is understood to share.

The UK Embassy in Washington has told ITV News: “It is our longstanding policy to not comment on intelligence matters.

“The US is our closest ally on security and intelligence. We continue to work together to uphold global peace and security, defend freedom of navigation, and respond to emerging threats.”

A Pentagon official has said that the department “doesn’t talk about intelligence matters”.

Trump’s administration has argued that the US military can legally kill suspected drug traffickers. / Credit: PA

Before the US military began destroying boats in September, efforts to combat drug trafficking were led by law enforcement and the US Coast Guard.

Cartel members and smugglers were treated as criminals with due process rights, an approach the UK was comfortable supporting, sources said.

However, the US President Trump’s administration has argued that the US military can legally kill suspected traffickers because they pose an imminent threat to Americans and are “enemy combatants” engaged in an “armed conflict” with the US, according to a memo sent to Congress.

The White House has repeatedly stated that its actions “comply fully with the Law of Armed Conflict,” which controls military conduct and aims to protect civilians.

Legal experts dispute this reasoning, saying the Law of Armed Conflict still applies to civilian drug traffickers and that labelling a group as a foreign terrorist organisation does not automatically justify the use of lethal force.

Reports said that several of the targeted boats were either stationary or turning around when attacked, casting doubt on US claims that they posed an imminent threat.

Canada, another key US ally that has helped the US Coast Guard intercept suspected traffickers in the Caribbean for nearly two decades, has also distanced itself from the strikes.

Sources said that while Canada plans to continue its Coast Guard partnership under Operation Caribbean, it has made clear to Washington that it does not want its intelligence used to support deadly military operations.