US Uses Civilian-Looking Plane to Strike Drug-Smuggling Vessel
Officials told The Washington Post the aircraft concealed its weapons internally, showing no visible armaments during the Caribbean operation. The strike killed 11 people, including two survivors of the initial attack who were later killed in a follow-up strike.
Current and former officials said Pentagon lawyers raised concerns that disguising a military aircraft as civilian could amount to “perfidy,” a war crime under the law of armed conflict that bans feigning civilian status to conduct attacks.
“If you arm these aircraft for self-defense purposes, that would not be a violation” told Todd Huntley, a former military lawyer who advised US Special Operations for seven years following 9/11, to the Post, adding “But using it as an offensive platform and relying on its civilian appearance to gain the confidence of the enemy is.”
Several officials said the plane is part of a fleet of crewed US Air Force aircraft painted with civilian-style markings for missions where standard military coloring would be a disadvantage. One official noted the aircraft had already been configured to resemble a civilian plane before the Sept. 2 strike and was not altered specifically for the mission.
According to The Washington Post, the use of a civilian-looking aircraft without visible weapons triggered internal debate within the Pentagon and raised fears that a classified capability had been exposed in a mission targeting what one former official described as “civilians on a boat who posed no threat.”
The Trump administration has defended the strikes as lawful, arguing the president determined the US is engaged in armed conflict with drug cartels. Legal experts interviewed by The Washington Post disputed that position, saying drug trafficking does not meet the international legal threshold for armed conflict.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for US Special Operations Command, which carried out the strike, also declined to comment, according to the Post.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reported Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said the military uses a mix of conventional and unconventional aircraft depending on operational needs. She added each aircraft undergoes a procurement and review process to ensure compliance with US law, Defense Department rules, and international standards, including the law of armed conflict.
A statement from the White House, issued by spokeswoman Anna Kelly, did not directly address perfidy concerns but defended the strike as part of President Donald Trump’s directive to target narcotics trafficking and violent cartel activity. Kelly said the operation was conducted “in full accordance with the law of armed conflict,” the Times reported.
The precise identity of the aircraft remains undisclosed. Officials confirmed it did not resemble a typical military plane but declined to describe its design.
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