On September 2, 2025 the United States escalated its decades long War on Drugs with a tactic borrowed from the War on Terror. It used a drone to blow up a boat it said was full of drugs then said the 11 people killed in the strike were terrorists.
Is this legal? Does that matter?
On this week’s Angry Planet, journalist Mike LaSusa of InSight Crime comes on the show to walk us through the ins and outs of America’s long-running War on Drugs and how War on Terror tactics are shaping the fight.
What’s Tren de Aragua?
The real connections between Tren de Aragua and the government of Venezuela
Is this legal?
How America’s drug interdiction works
Does violence deter?
On narcoterrorism
Cartel as misnomer
Violence isn’t sustainable
“We don’t even know these people’s names.”
America’s partners in the War on Terror on Drugs
“Motivations matter.”
How do you solve a problem like illicit drugs?
How the Trump admin hurt its own cause in the drug war
Poppies in Afghanistan
Drug use as a moral failing
11 is a lot people for a drug boat
The Cartel of the Suns
How War-on-Terror Tactics Could Change the Fight Against Organized Crime
Boat Suspected of Smuggling Drugs Is Said to Have Turned Before U.S. Attacked It
Rand Paul Reveals Venezuela Boat Attack Was a Drone Strike
Tren de Aragua: Fact vs. Fiction
How Trump’s Anti-Money Laundering Rollback Could Help LatAm Criminals
