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Dean’s List publishes information and opinion on politics, culture, the arts and life. Civility is a requirement. We cherish diversity, empathy, honesty, and kindness.

Trump Administration, Fentanyl, Drugs

About Sinking Those Boats Suspected of Smuggling Fentanyl

3 min readOct 4, 2025

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Did President Trump

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Unclassified photo of suspected Venezuelan drug boat prior to sinking.

Earlier this week, President Trump congratulated himself again for directing the military to sink boats suspected of smuggling fentanyl and other drugs into the U.S. To publicize the good news, which the President claims has saved hundreds of thousands of lives, he has posted videos of the sinkings. In them, relatively large speedboats are blasted to smithereens by missiles shot from U.S. fighter jets.

As I watched one of the videos, I wondered whether all of the fentanyl and other drugs that may have been aboard the boats were destroyed. If fentanyl is released into the ocean, does it remain deadly? More simply put, are marine life and even humans being exposed to a new risk?

A little research on Google, aided by AI, gave me an answer:

When fentanyl is released into the ocean, it can remain deadly, particularly for marine life, as it is persistent in water and degrades slowly. The concentration and environmental conditions, along with the high potency of the drug, affect its potential lethality.

Fentanyl’s persistence and breakdown in water

Persistent in water: The U.S. National Response Team considers fentanyl…

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John Dean
John Dean

Written by John Dean

Writing on politics, photography, nature, the environment, dogs, and, occasionally, humor. Editor of Dean’s List.

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