Britain has stopped sharing intelligence on ships suspected of drug smuggling in the Caribbean due to concerns about the legality of the operation. recent US military strikesTwo sources familiar with the situation told NBC News.
A British government spokesman in London declined to comment directly on whether Britain had suspended some information sharing with Washington.
“It is our long-standing policy not to comment on intelligence matters,” a Downing Street spokesman said in an email. “The United States is our closest security and intelligence ally. We continue to work together to maintain global peace and security, protect freedom of navigation, and respond to emerging threats.”
CNN first reported Suspension of intelligence sharing on drug trafficking vessels in Latin America.
The CIA declined to comment. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Britain is America's most important intelligence partner in the spy alliance of five English-speaking democracies known as the Five Eyes, which also includes Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Britain, France and the Netherlands have territories in the Caribbean and have long worked with the United States and other regional governments to try to curb drug trafficking. Cocaine smuggling into Europe from South America via the Caribbean has increased sharply over the past decade, according to government reports and experts.
Former military lawyers, legal experts and congressional Democrats say the strikes violate international and U.S. laws that prohibit the use of military force against civilians. They argue that drug gangs do not meet the legal standards of an armed group at war with the United States.
The topic of American military attacks on suspected drug-smuggling vessels came up during a meeting in Canada of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies, Kaja Kallas, the European Union's foreign affairs chief, told NBC News.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday denied reports that Britain had stopped sharing intelligence. He also said that his colleagues did not raise the issue of the US military campaign in Latin America and intelligence support for the operation during discussions.
“Not with me — no one brought it up,” Rubio told reporters after the meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake, near the U.S. border.
“This issue has never come up,” Rubio said.
He added: “Again, nothing has changed or happened that would in any way impede our ability to do what we do, and we are not asking anyone to help us with what we do – in any area. Including in the military sphere.”
Asked about European concerns about whether the United States was complying with international law with boat strikes, Rubio said the United States must ensure its own security.
“I don't think the European Union can define what international law is. What they certainly can't define is how the United States protects its national security,” Rubio said.
“The United States is under attack from organized crime and narco-terrorists in our hemisphere, and the President is responding by protecting our country.”
Asked whether the Canadian government was hiding intelligence from Washington about drug trafficking in Latin America, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand told reporters on Wednesday: “The United States has made it clear that it uses its own intelligence. We are not involved in the operations that you mentioned.”
Canada's intelligence agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
NATO allies have said little publicly about President Donald Trump's military campaign in the Caribbean and Pacific, which marks the first time a U.S. commander in chief has treated drug smugglers as a military adversary fighting a “war” with the United States.
On the legality of the strikes, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters on Tuesday: “Decisions on this issue are a US matter. Whether something is contrary to international law is a matter for the competent international court, not for the government.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrault expressed concern on Tuesday about the legal basis for US military strikes.
“We are following with concern the strikes carried out by the United States in international waters, in violation of international and maritime law,” Barro. This was reported by the French newspaper La Journal du Dimanche..
Barrault added that “we cannot allow these lawless criminal networks to flourish” and that “France will not hesitate to use its military assets to intercept drug traffickers, in close cooperation with the countries concerned…”.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said last month there was no justification for the strikes under international law.
“These attacks – and their mounting loss of life – are unacceptable. The United States must stop such attacks and take all necessary measures to prevent extrajudicial killings of people aboard these boats, no matter what criminal conduct is alleged against them,” Turk said. says the statement.
But the Trump administration argues that drug cartels pose a threat to American national security by transporting drugs into the United States that claim tens of thousands of lives each year. The administration has designated several cartels from Venezuela, Mexico and other countries as foreign terrorist organizations.
The strikes, which began in early September, have killed at least 75 people, according to the Pentagon.
President of Colombia Gustavo Petro On Tuesday he ordered his country's security forces to stop sharing intelligence with Washington until the Trump administration stops targeting suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean.
In a post on X Peter wrote that Colombian Armed Forces must immediately cease “communications and other agreements with US security agencies”
The Trump administration portrayed Peter as incapable of fighting drug traffickers and criticized his decision not to extradite Colombian rebel leaders involved in the drug trade to the United States.
