Coast Guard Sources to Newsmax: Hit Boat Survivors Couldn't Have Posed Threat

With the Pentagon facing renewed pressure to release video from a controversial Sept. 2 strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat, current and former U.S. Coast Guard sources tell Newsmax that they doubt survivors of the initial hit could have posed the threat cited as justification for follow-up attacks.

"Current and former Coast Guard sources have told me that there was no way that two-strike survivors could have flipped the targeted drug boat back over on Sept. 2, and there was likely no way that they could have reloaded the drugs on board," Newsmax national security correspondent Carla Babb reported on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren."

She noted that the sources based their assessment on familiarity with the vessels and the realities of at-sea smuggling operations.

Babb's reporting follows claims by President Donald Trump on Monday, when he sought to justify the military's decision to fire a second missile while attacking a boat in the Caribbean Sea by saying two suspected drug smugglers were trying to right the vessel after it capsized in the initial strike.

But Babb reported that Coast Guard personnel with drug-interdiction experience question whether two survivors could have restored the boat's capability after the first strike.

"The idea that the two survivors from the strikes were going to flip a boat that weighs well over 10,000 pounds is nonsense," James Martin, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran who has participated in more than a dozen maritime drug seizures, told Babb.

"The idea that they were going to subsequently collect several thousand pounds of waterlogged narcotics is even more unbelievable," he added.

Meanwhile, an active Coast Guard member told Babb that drug bales and packets often do not remain conveniently recoverable after a disruption at sea.

"Drug packets usually float away when they're on the surface," the source commented.

"Most of the time, they weigh them down so they partially sink. That way, there is no evidence [that] the drug dealers can, or the drug smugglers can come back and pick them up because they put GPS trackers on them."

Another former Coast Guard source reinforced that assessment in blunt terms, telling Newsmax, "Two of your strongest Navy Seals couldn't flip one of these types of boats over in the water."

A separate Coast Guard member also voiced concern about the broader approach while stressing support for the mission of narcotics interdiction.

"I'm all about taking drugs off the water, but the right way," the member told Newsmax. "More funding for the Coast Guard so we can get more ships and people. But this is wrong."

The debate over the Sept. 2 strikes comes as the Coast Guard publicized what it said was its largest at-sea drug seizure in more than 18 years, releasing video of an operation in the eastern Pacific in which more than 20,000 pounds of cocaine were seized after a suspected smuggling boat was disabled from the air and then boarded.

War Department Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum, reiterated that he stands by the Sept. 2 decision.

"From what I understood then and what I understand now, I fully support that strike," he said. "I would have made the same call myself."

The White House, Babb reported, maintains that designated narcoterrorists are subject to lethal targeting consistent with the laws of war.

U.S. Southern Command has said that as of Friday, the United States has conducted 22 kinetic strikes against suspected drug smugglers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing 87 people.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are pushing for more transparency.

Van Susteren cited a Politico report indicating Congress is moving to withhold part of Hegseth's Pentagon travel budget until the department provides strike videos for review, saying the measure was inserted into the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act.

"They snuck this into the NDAA, the final draft of the National Defense Authorization Act," Van Susteren said.

"So basically, what they're saying is they want to see this video. There's been you know, you heard what Coast Guard officials are telling Newsmax, there are people on both sides of the aisle that say, show us this video. We want to see for ourselves what happened."

Van Susteren added that lawmakers are also seeking other overdue material from the administration, including reports described as "lessons learned from the war in Ukraine."

Babb said the drip of partial accounts has complicated efforts to report out what happened, citing conflicting descriptions of Hegseth's guidance in the aftermath.

"It's excruciating to have to try to report this when you're just getting drips and drips," Babb said.

"I mean, if you look at one report, they say, Adm. Bradley said that Hegseth told him to kill everybody. If you look at another one, it says that he told lawmakers that there was no kill everybody call. It would be a lot easier if we were able to get more information about the strike."

Van Susteren predicted the video would eventually be released and said the Pentagon faces a choice between incremental disclosures and full transparency.

"The video is going to come out, and they can either drip, drip, drip, drip, drip like this, or they can get over the pain and just show us the video," she said. "Maybe the video supports what they say, maybe it doesn't, but it's going to come out."

GET TODAY NEWSMAX+:

NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!

Reuters Institute reports NEWSMAX is one of the top news brands in the U.S.

You need to watch NEWSMAX today.

Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!

Find the NEWSMAX channel on your cable system – Go Here Now

BEST OFFER:

Sign up for NEWSMAX+ and get NEWSMAX, our streaming channel NEWSMAX2 and our military channel World at War.

Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.

Even get Jon Voight’s special series and President Trump’s comedy programs and much more!

Watch NEWSMAX+ on your smartphone or home TV app.

Watch NEWSMAX anytime, anywhere!