Canada Restricts Intelligence Sharing During Caribbean Anti-Drug Operation

OTTAWA

Department of National Defence said it has measures in place to prevent intelligence from being shared with parts of the United States military that have conducted lethal strikes on small boats in the Caribbean.

Operation Caribbe Intelligence Safeguards

The department told CBC News that information collected during Operation Caribbe is restricted to the joint interagency task force leading the operation and its approved partners. It is explicitly marked to prevent sharing with any units involved in Operation Southern Spear.

Southern Spear is the Pentagon’s militarized anti-drug campaign that has killed at least 151 people in airstrikes on suspected drug-carrying boats since last year.

Focus on Seizures, Not Strikes

Unlike Southern Spear, Operation Caribbe is an annual mission in which a Royal Canadian Navy vessel joins a US flotilla to intercept illegal drug shipments. The operation emphasizes seizing cargo and arresting crews rather than carrying out airstrikes.

The Department of National Defence did not provide details about the deployment of the coastal defence vessel HMCS Yellowknife until it was returning to Canadian waters. On March 6, after leaving Key West, the department confirmed that the ship had “provided support to lawful operations against illicit drug trafficking” in the Caribbean.
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