US President Donald Trump has officially classified the powerful painkiller fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction” via an executive order. The order describes illegally trafficked fentanyl as more akin to a chemical weapon than a narcotic, attributing the deaths of 200,000 to 300,000 people annually to its use. However, the US health authority estimates a significantly lower death toll of around 80,000.

In related actions, the US Southern Command reported killing eight people during attacks on three boats in the eastern Pacific. Intelligence indicated that these vessels were engaged in drug trafficking along smuggling routes. Since September, US forces have repeatedly targeted suspected drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, resulting in at least 95 deaths. Critics have condemned these operations as extrajudicial killings and violations of international law.