The United Kingdom has halted sharing intelligence with the United States on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean, citing concerns over the legality of US military strikes, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
British officials fear that the intelligence could be used to target vessels in operations they believe are illegal.
This move represents a notable shift in the long-standing intelligence partnership between the UK and its closest ally, highlighting rising doubts about the legality of the US military’s activities in the region.
For years, the UK, which maintains several territories in the Caribbean and operates intelligence assets there, assisted the US in locating ships suspected of carrying illicit drugs.
This intelligence allowed the US Coast Guard to stop the vessels, board them, detain crews, and seize drugs, according to the sources.
Typically, the information was routed through Joint Interagency Task Force South in Florida, which coordinates with multiple partner nations to combat the illegal drug trade.
But after the US began launching lethal strikes against the vessels in September, the UK became wary that its intelligence might be used to select targets for attacks that have already killed 76 people.
British officials believe these strikes violate international law, sources said. The intelligence pause has been in effect for over a month.
The UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, stated last month that the strikes constitute “extrajudicial killing” and breach international law, a view the UK reportedly shares, the sources told CNN.
Requests for comment from the British embassy in Washington and the White House went unanswered.
A Pentagon official told CNN that the department “doesn’t talk about intelligence matters.”
Before September, countering drug trafficking in the region was largely handled by law enforcement and the US Coast Guard.
Cartel members and smugglers were treated as criminals with due process rights, a framework the UK had supported, sources said.
The Trump administration, however, contends that the US military can legally kill suspected traffickers, arguing that they pose an imminent threat to Americans and qualify as “enemy combatants” engaged in an “armed conflict” with the United States, according to a memo sent to Congress.
A classified opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel bolsters this stance. The administration has also designated several drug cartels as “foreign terrorist groups” and insists its actions “comply fully with the Law of Armed Conflict,” which is intended to protect civilians under international law.
Legal experts, however, caution that the Law of Armed Conflict still applies to civilian drug traffickers, and labeling a group as a foreign terrorist organization does not automatically authorize lethal force.
CNN has reported that several boats struck by the US were stationary or turning, calling into question claims that the vessels posed an imminent threat that could not be addressed through traditional interdiction and arrests.
Some senior US defense officials have also raised doubts. Adm. Alvin Holsey, commander of US Southern Command, reportedly offered to resign after a tense meeting with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff over the legality of the strikes.
Holsey is scheduled to leave his post in December, just a year into his SOUTHCOM tenure.
Lawyers specializing in international law within the Department of Defense’s Office of General Counsel have also flagged concerns.
Multiple current and former military lawyers told CNN that the strikes appear unlawful, though Hegseth’s spokesperson previously denied that any dissent existed among the legal advisers involved.
Canada, another longstanding US ally and partner in Caribbean anti-drug operations, has similarly distanced itself from the military strikes.
The country intends to continue collaborating with the US Coast Guard through Operation Caribbean, but it has made clear that its intelligence should not be used to target boats for lethal attacks, sources told CNN.
A Canadian defense spokesperson emphasized last month that “it is important to note that Canadian Armed Forces activities under Operation Caribbean, conducted in co-ordination with the United States Coast Guard, are separate and distinct” from the US military strikes on suspected drug vessels.
