US official advocated months ago for sinking boats carrying suspected drugs

Months before the U.S. military began launching airstrikes against suspected drug vessels, former Justice Department No. 2 official Emil Bove told employees the government should just "sink the boats" rather than prosecute the people on board, three witnesses told Reuters.



Bove, the former acting deputy attorney general, made similar remarks on at least three separate occasions between November 2024 and February 2025 when the topic of maritime drug cases was broached, the witnesses said. All three were granted anonymity to detail internal Justice Department discussions.

NPR first reported the news on Monday.



The witnesses now view Bove's remarks as a harbinger of the unprecedented militaristic approach the Trump administration is taking by bombing suspected drug vessels, rather than the traditional response of seizing the ships, confiscating the drugs and arresting those on board.