Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) has reviewed the classified "execute order" — a directive issued by the president authorizing the military to carry out a specific operation — signed by President Donald Trump authorizing military boat strikes against suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean, and is now publicly accusing the administration of operating beyond legal boundaries and killing civilians uninvolved in narcotrafficking.

The operation, known as Operation Southern Spear, represents a notable departure from the traditional U.S. approach to maritime drug interdiction, which for decades has been conducted primarily as a law enforcement mission by the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, and the DEA, with the Defense Department in a supporting role for detection and surveillance rather than direct lethal action.

In a letter to the White House, Kaine — a senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee — wrote that the U.S. military has "exceeded" the parameters Trump agreed to when authorizing the strikes, as ABC News reported. The senator stated that classified briefings confirmed the military's own targeting rules did not match what the president approved.

"My review of your directive, the [Office of Legal Counsel] legal opinion, the EXORD and the notifications of the boat strikes, makes clear that the United States is engaged in violent and fatal attacks against people far beyond those whom the OLC opinion claimed could be lawfully targeted," Kaine wrote. The Office of Legal Counsel, a component of the Justice Department, provides the executive branch's binding legal interpretations on the scope of presidential and agency authority. "In other words, a careful review of the available evidence suggests that the United States has killed individuals who are not involved in narcotrafficking. They are murder victims."

Kaine addressed Trump directly in the letter, stating: "You selected numerous organizations for targeting. That target list is classified so I cannot reveal it." He noted that the classified nature of the target list means "those you have asked the Department of Defense to target are entirely unaware that they are marked for execution."

According to a recent inspector general report, the operation has killed at least 218 people through military bombing and has cost more than $820 million. The full letter is available from Kaine's Senate office.

In a Truth Social post, Trump claimed: "98.2 percent of Drugs coming into the U.S. by Ocean or Sea have STOPPED!" However, neither the president, the Pentagon, nor the Department of Homeland Security has provided evidence to support this assertion.

Kaine directly disputed the claim, writing: "Adding to the deep concern over these illegal killings is the fact, recently confirmed by the Drug Enforcement Administration, that Operation Southern Spear has had no effect on the flow of illegal drugs into the United States."

The Washington Post reported that the volume of cocaine entering the United States has remained unchanged despite the Pentagon's substantial spending. Drawing on a Pentagon congressional briefing, a DEA assessment, and interviews with current and former U.S. and foreign officials, The Post found no change in either the supply or the price of cocaine.

According to the report, drug traffickers have adapted to the strikes. Rather than continuing to use multi-engine "go fast boats," smugglers have shifted to larger vessels that travel close to the coastline and have increased their use of aircraft transportation. While the strikes initially disrupted some trafficking operations in the early months, the DEA analysis concluded that "smugglers have adapted to the intensified pressure."

Kaine's letter concludes that the operations possess "dubious legality" and have achieved nothing of operational value. The letter escalates what has been a growing congressional debate over the scope of executive authority to use lethal military force outside of declared war zones — a question that has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers in both parties as the operation's costs and casualty counts have mounted.