WASHINGTON, January 13. /TASS/. The United States has at least once disguised military aircraft as civilian planes to attack alleged drug smuggling boats off the coast of Latin America, The Washington Post reported.

Several sources confirmed to the newspaper that the first strikes, carried out on September 2, 2025, were conducted by a military aircraft "painted to look like a civilian plane." The Washington Post noted that the munitions were stored inside the plane, instead of being mounted outside, and were deployed as the aircraft approached the boat. The report also states this operation "prompted legal debate" in the Pentagon, since the concealment of the plane’s military status could be qualified as a violation of international law.

The news outlet recalled that Washington carried out almost 30 attacks on alleged drug boats in the waters around Venezuela and other Latin American countries, killing over 100 people. After one of the strikes, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the US operation had killed a fisherman from his country rather than a drug trafficker.