US attacked boat with aircraft that looked like civilian plane: report

WASHINGTON (TNND) — The U.S. military reportedly used a plane disguised as a civilian aircraft to carry out one of the first deadly strikes on an alleged drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean in September.

Crews on the plane did not have any weapons visible on the outside of the aircraft when the attack occurred, anonymous officials confirmed to The New York Times, but rather carried munitions inside the plane.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives for a classified briefing with senators on the situation in Venezuela, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Legal experts explained that making the plane unrecognizable breaks the laws of armed conflict by fooling adversaries into lowering their guard, which is a war crime called “perfidy.”

The Trump administration has argued its lethal boat attacks are lawful due to President Donald Trump determining the U.S. is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

“Shielding your identity is an element of perfidy,” he said. “If the aircraft flying above is not identifiable as a combatant aircraft, it should not be engaged in combatant activity,” Retired Maj. Gen. Steven J. Lepper, a former deputy judge advocate general for the United States Air Force, told The New York Times.

Officials briefed on the operation said the plane was low enough for people on the boat to see it, and the boat turned back toward Venezuela after spotting it. Eleven people were killed, including two who survived the initial attack and died in a follow-up strike.

Kingsley Wilson, the Pentagon press secretary, told the outlet that the U.S. military utilizes a “wide array of standard and nonstandard aircraft depending on mission requirements” and go through rigorous screenings to “ensure compliance with domestic law, department policies and regulations, and applicable international standards, including the law of armed conflict.”

Since the Sept. 2 boat strike, the U.S. military has killed at least 123 people in 35 attacks.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle launched a review in December about whether the “double-tap” strike that killed two survivors was a crime.

The White House said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized U.S. Navy Admiral Frank Bradley to conduct the follow-up strike, who “worked well within his authority and the law.”

Multiple officials told The Washington Post the aircraft involved in the operation was part of a fleet of U.S. Air Force planes painted in civilian schemes and used in situations where the military’s typical gray paint scheme was not preferable.