A new, disturbing detail in the “drug boat” controversy that has enveloped Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the past week calls the purpose of the entire operation into question.
According to an exclusive report from CNN, the alleged narco-trafficking boat that the U.S. military targeted on September 2 in a “double tap” strike, which killed 11 people, wasn’t even heading to the U.S.
Navy Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley, who was in charge of the operation, reported to lawmakers that the boat they struck was actually en route to link up with a larger boat that was heading to Suriname, a country east of Venezuela, two sources with direct knowledge of his remarks said.
Bradley also said that it was still possible that the alleged drug shipment could have eventually ended up in the U.S., the sources told CNN—rather dubious justification for a strike that left several people dead.
I did some basic research and made some assumptions. 1-2 million cocaine users that self identify. More likely 10-20 million users with a lot of those being casual take it or leave it users. Probably just under a million chronic users.
So let’s let’s say about million grams a day over a million users. That is about two tons. I think this is probably an underestimate, honestly.
Obviously my methodology is not great, just rough guesses based upon the best information.
https://www.samhsa.gov/data