President Donald Trump and his top White House aides pushed for lethal strikes on Western Hemisphere drug traffickers almost as soon as they took office in January, and in the past 10 months have repeatedly steamrolled or sidestepped government lawyers who questioned whether the provocative policy was legal, according to multiple current and former officials familiar with the debates.

As Trump weighs what could be imminent military action against Venezuela and its leader, NicolásMaduro, while striking at alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, new details are emerging about the evolution of a strategy that involves unprecedented U.S. military force against the narcotics trade - and, critics say, outsize legal risk.

The deadly attacks on small boats are being c

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