Canadian technology helped us hit the alleged Venezuelan drug boats: Report

The Canadian high -tech camera system has been used as part of the controversial American strikes against alleged Venezuelan drug boats, according to a report issued by the non -governmental organization project that was shared exclusively with the CBC visual investigation team.

CBC Analysis PROJECT PLOWSHARES reportI compared it to the evidence of the products and videos that were previously released and spoke with former military and defense industry experts, and concluded that it is possible that Canadian technology is involved in monitoring during the operations.

“There must be more supervision of human rights … We see that Canadian weapons misuse them,” said Kelissi Galaghar, a researcher in the project plow project.

“The US military used a” L3Harrris Wescam MX-Series Canadian manufacturer in September’s first in September.

CBC News reached L3Harris Wescam, in detail the results of the visual analysis.

“As a matter of practice, we do not comment on military tasks,” the company said.

The US military fired five strikes in the Caribbean Sea, starting last month, against what President Donald Trump said that the ships are blowing drugs and managed by “drugs”.

The latest blow to Friday. At least 21 people were killed on a series of strikes. The United States released four -blow videos.

Experts quickly interrogation Legitimacy of strikes, on the pretext that they have violated international human rights and naval laws.

“International legal experts can present the argument that Canada is somehow complicit into a kind of war crimes committed by the Trump administration in the Caribbean Basin,” Alexander Avena, a co -history professor at Arizona State University, said in an interview.

White House Strike By saying they were launched against a terrorist organization, The issue of self -defense was It was “completely consistent” with the laws of armed conflict.

Trump administration He said on Thursday He was in “non -international armed conflict” and suspected drug smugglers were “illegal fighters.”

Global Affairs in Canada monitor the “American process”

I asked CBC News Global Affairs Canada about the participation of Canadian technology, the possibility that the strikes be illegal and whether the relationship of weapons export in Canada requires a review.

In a statement, a GAC ​​spokesman said: “Global affairs in Canada are aware of the American process and monitor the situation.”

According to the Project Plowshares report, which was released on Monday, Canadian -made monitoring technology was used to help carry out the first and second strikes.

The report found that Fenezuela Strike videos and pre-identified videos of MX-Series are shared in distinctive visual similarities, such as a medium strip and comprehensive planning.

“Undoubtedly, the same symbols,” said a former Canadian member who has experience in using these MX-Series systems for CBC after comparing video photos with Wescam MX MX military videos available to the public.

CBC does not name former military personnel and defense experts who consulted this story due to the inconsistency agreements and their continuous work in the defense and army industry.

American main military agent for sensors

the MX-Series It is what is known as Electro-Optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR) that “supports intelligence, monitoring, reconnaissance and the targeted acquisitions of the platforms through the airspace, land and marine fields,” according to L3HARRIS.

Systems are used by a variety of operators, including military, police, search and rescue.

MX-Series is manufactured in Canada by a company called L3Harris Wescam in Hamilton. Canadian manufacturer A subsidiary of L3Harris TechnologiesOne of the largest defense contractors in the United States.

Contract records appear Canadian subsidiaries of L3HARRIS provided services and devices to the American army for air, land and sea uses. L3HARRIS WESCAM Specialized in EO/IR systems, according to the company, has exported MX-Series to nearly 90 countries.

Gallaghar said: “The US Defense Ministry is one of the largest clients of L3Harris Wescam Eo/IR.”

Visual investigation

It was Project Plowshares It was previously identified Export Wescam MX-Series used in other conflict areas through a range of video analysis and export records. Canadian WESCAM MERIES systems have been used in the military equipment deployed by the forces in turkeyand Ukraine and Other conflict areas.

Unnovated MX-Series view This example It was published by the Turkish media and highlighted in a Previous report By Project Plowshares. It is closely identical to another example of an uninterrupted offer in shots of Ukrainian strikes on the island of the Russian, Ukraine, in 2022.

Project Plowshares found the same scale tape – the square line in the middle of the screen that has brackets – visible in the Turkish -Ukrainian and karibian examples. The intermediate band “provides the operator a visual signal for estimating distances within the scene,” according to the MX series user guide It was raised online.

This guide, which is distinguished as “royal information”, also provides pictures of typical graphics bonuses, which confirm that they are customized, which are closely identical to the planning and details of Ukrainian and Turkish videos.

The match cleansing, “t” is not sad

Plowshares also notes in its report that although many of the Venezuelan strikes clip is unclear, those blocked parts match the data on the amazing videos from Türkiye or Ukraine.

Unseen boxes of the same shape and size cover what can be seen in Turkish videos: indicators of the real North, the angle and direction of actual sensors, information about registration time and other major data such as plane mode.

The CBC video investigation team also conducted a visual analysis of the available Wescam MX-Series footage, compared them with previous clips of L3ARRIS, foreign spots, Canadian Armed Forces and the police.

The investigation has found that Trump’s first two videos were in line with videos of the MX-Series systems available to the public.

One videoFor example, KINGFisHer CC-295 Canadi uses a similar system in a common process with the American Coast Guard. L3Harris Wescam Eo/IR systems supply For several types of RCAF aircraft, Including kingfisher.

Another graphical idea in Venezuela videos indicates Wescam MX-Series. In part of the video released by Trump on September 15, “T” is small outside the unclear area on the lower left side of the screen. It corresponds to part of the screen that is shown “T” as part of “FT” in other non-prohibited videos of MX-Series.

While the graphic elements are closely identical, some questions remain.

It is not clear, for example, what aircraft were used in Venezuela operations. EO/IR screens can also be customized and may vary according to the model, which is the context in which it is used and the operator’s preference.

MX-Series systems are merged into Many American military aircraft. Some of these types of aircraft, such as P-8 Poseidon, are Between military origins The United States has spread in the Caribbean Sea in recent months.

The P-8 Poseidon, according to the data from Tracking Company Exchange, was heading towards the Caribbean Sea on September 1 during the night until September 2, and on September 14, the approximate dates of the first two first. Some P-8a Poseidons It is equipped with L3HARRIS WESCAM MX-20 SystemsAccording to the company.

The US Department of War and the White House did not answer the questions asked by CBC News.

Reforming the weapons vulnerability, the expert says

CBC News spoke with many experts who have knowledge of EO/IR systems, including former military personnel, defense employees and a professional group of aircraft sensors experts, and a group of mobile sensors operators.

The majority of them was that the MX-Series system was probably used for parts of the first two videos published by Trump.

CBC News also compared Venezuela videos with graphic shows created by other defense companies, but none of them match the first two strikes. No video of the third blow was released. The fourth and fifth strikes seem to be greatly different from the other two – they are likely to be recorded from a different system.

Legal experts raised concerns last month about whether the strikes violate the International Human Rights Law, as well as maritime law.

“There is no serious argument that what the Trump administration has done here is legal,” said Michael Baker, Assistant Professor of International Human Rights Law at the Faculty of Law at Trainte College in Dublin. “It mainly amounts to the President of the United States, which generates a murder license.”

Gallagher, of the Project Plowshares, said that Canada bears responsibility under the UN weapons treaty to assess whether defense exports can be used to violate human rights abroad.

He said that Canada’s bilateral deals with the United States mean that many of its arms trade does not require a government permit.

“I think the immediate response should be represented in repairing gaps in the national monitoring system in Canada to obtain better supervision of Canadian arms exports to the United States, to ensure that they are not used in abusive ways.”

Do you have any tips about this story? Please call Christian Paas-Lang: [email protected]