In a surprise break from a long-standing alliance, Britain has reportedly stopped sharing intelligence with the United States on suspected drug smuggling vessels in the Caribbean, a move that could reshape joint anti-narcotics operations in the region.
According to a CNN investigation, the UK has halted its data-sharing agreement with Washington after raising concerns that US military strikes on suspected traffickers may breach international law. British officials are said to fear the UK could become “complicit” in actions they believe amount to unlawful killings.
For years, Royal Navy assets have been at the heart of multinational drug-busting operations in the Caribbean, working side by side with the US Navy and Coast Guard. The Portsmouth-based HMS Trent, for example, made headlines after becoming the first Royal Navy vessel to intercept a “narco-sub”, seizing £160 million worth of cocaine in a single operation, and £750 million in total during its last deployment.
But the partnership now appears to be under strain. CNN reports that the intelligence-sharing freeze began more than a month ago, following a string of controversial US strikes that have allegedly killed 76 people across the Caribbean and northern South America.
Amnesty International blasted the campaign, accusing the US of conducting unlawful killings. Daphne Eviatar, Amnesty USA’s Director for Human Rights and Security, said:
“The U.S. military’s Southern Command has gone on a murder spree by following the Trump administration’s illegal orders. Even if these individuals were criminals, intentionally killing people who pose no imminent threat is murder, full stop.”
The US maintains the opposite view, insisting that suspected traffickers are “enemy combatants” and legitimate targets in an “armed conflict”. President Donald Trump has dramatically escalated his war on drugs, deploying the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, to the region and accusing Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro of orchestrating large-scale trafficking operations, a claim Maduro denies.
Meanwhile, HMS Trent has pivoted to humanitarian work, focusing on disaster relief across British Overseas Territories and assisting recovery efforts in Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa.
The Royal Navy has made no comment on the pause in intelligence sharing, while the British Embassy in Washington, the White House, and the Pentagon have all declined to respond.
For now, it seems Britain’s silence speaks volumes, signalling not just a moral stand against alleged unlawful killings, but perhaps a quiet protest over how far America’s war on drugs has gone.
