12:25 BST
Shayan Sardarizadeh
BBC Verify senior journalist
An old image of a boat seized for carrying drugs in the Canary Islands last year has been used to spread false claims that it was targeted by the US military in Colombian territorial waters.
The image was shared on X by an account calling itself “US Homeland Security News” in a post which was viewed more than a million times and has since been deleted. The account has nearly half a million followers, but no known links to the US Department of Homeland Security.
The photo shows multiple white bags in the back of a boat floating in the sea. “Does this look like a poor fishing boat?” the caption reads.
We ran a reverse image search to determine the source of the photo and found it first surfaced online in early 2024, when a boat carrying drugs was seized near the Canary Islands. According to a report by the Spanish newspaper El Pais, external, the boat, which was carrying 4,350kg of cocaine, was confiscated nearly 1,000km (620 miles) south of the Spanish territory in the Atlantic Ocean.
In the actual strike from September, the US has said the vessel hit Colombian territorial waters was carrying drugs destined for its own territory.
The attack angered Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro, who accused Washington of “murdering” a Colombian fisherman. In response, US President Donald Trump labelled Petro “an illegal drug leader” and said the US would no longer offer subsidies to Colombia.