The U.S. military has carried out at least 22 attacks on suspected drug boats so far this year, leaving more than 80 people dead, according to an analysis by NPR . During a speech this week in Pennsylvania, President Trump said the strikes are making Americans safer.

"Every boat that gets hit, we save 25,000 American lives and when you view it that way, you don't mind," Trump said.

But most experts on criminal cartels and deadly street drugs say military strikes on speedboats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific will have little or no impact on overdose deaths in the United States.

"Killing a drug mule has minimal effect on the flow of drugs, or the systems of criminal organizations," said Vanda Felbab-Brown, an expert on drug trafficking and addiction at the Brookings Institution

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