The Drug Enforcement Administration assessed that boat strikes have not reduced the amount of cocaine entering the United States.

Posted by Behind the Bastards, Oct 3, 2026Checked Nov 2, 2026

Polygraph verdictTrue

Sources: 4 support4 context
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 70%

Behind the BastardsOct 3, 2026

The Washington Post reported, citing a DEA assessment it reviewed, that the boat strikes have not reduced the amount of cocaine entering the U.S., and an NHPR interview with a Post reporter repeated this.

The host relays this claim without endorsing it. It counts as passed on, not against the post.

This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.

What was said

… Also, you have to remember that these people, if they're connected to the cartels, most low-level members, and their deaths, while extremely gruesome, have little impact on drug trafficking in the region. Per WaPo, the strikes have not reduced the amount of cocaine entering the U.S., according to a Drug Enforcement Administration assessment. Also, did I mention that Trump pardoned the former president of Honduras, who'd been sentenced to 45 years in prison in June 2024 after being convicted of importing more than 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S. Between 2004 and 2022? …

Behind the Bastards · Oct 3, 2026· from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Supports. The Washington Post reported a previously unreported DEA assessment concluding the strikes have not reduced the amount of cocaine entering the United States.[2]

Supports. A Washington Post reporter who broke the story confirmed on NPR-affiliate NHPR that the DEA assessment concluded the strikes have not cut the flow of cocaine into the U.S.[4]

Supports. DEA analysts reportedly wrote that price and availability of cocaine had not been noticeably affected, with cocaine price and purity essentially unchanged since the campaign began.[3][5]

Context. Multiple later outlets, including Reason and Independent, repeat the Post's account of the DEA assessment, but they trace back to that single reporting rather than to an independent record.[6][7][8]

Context. PolitiFact notes that seizure data cannot show how many drugs are making it into the U.S., so the evidence measures seizures and reported assessments rather than direct cocaine flow.[1]