President Miller

Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, has played a leading role in directing US strikes against suspected Venezuelan drug boats, according to three people familiar with the situation. At times, his role has superseded that of Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and national security adviser.

The strikes on the Venezuelan boats allegedly carrying narcotics, which the administration has claimed were necessary because interdiction did not work, have been orchestrated through the homeland security council (HSC), which Miller leads as the homeland security adviser.

Miller empowered the HSC earlier this year to become its own entity in Donald Trump’s second term, a notable departure from previous administrations where it was considered part of the national security council and ultimately reported to the national security adviser.

The Sept. 2 fast boat, [Venezuelan Journalist Ronna] Rísquez said, almost certainly embarked from San Juan de Unare. But one risk, experts like her point out, is that as a result its driver and crew may well have been not Tren de Aragua members, but local "mules" — fishermen and other destitute workers eager to make money piloting contraband to Trinidad.

And that contraband, Rísquez cautions, more often than not includes people: "Migrants and women migrants being sexually trafficked.”

"The U.S.," Rísquez said, "as a result runs a risk of civilian casualties if it's not more careful. Its military needs to make sure its intelligence about who it's targeting is solid if it's going to pursue these operations."

It was perhaps indicative of the U.S.'s realization of that risk that when the [USS] Dunham stopped the Venezuelan fishing boat last Friday, it had Coast Guard personnel — in effect, the U.S. maritime cops who are designated to interdict drugs on the high seas — search the vessel.