- DHS posted an outdated 2024 photo falsely linking it to a recent U.S.-Colombia naval strike, undermining credibility amid a diplomatic dispute with President Petro.
- Repeated misleading DHS claims and alleged directives to misrepresent facts have sparked investigations and eroded public trust in the department.
In a fresh blow to the Department of Homeland Security’s credibility, the agency has been called out for using an outdated photo to bolster claims about a drug-smuggling boat, amid escalating tensions with Colombian President Gustavo Petro over U.S. naval operations.
The incident highlights what critics see as a troubling pattern of misleading the public under Secretary Kristi Noem’s leadership.
The controversy erupted when the official DHS News account on X posted a photo showing the back of a motorboat loaded with what looked like bags of cocaine.
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The caption read: “Colombian President claims one of the Narco boats destroyed by the US Naval Task Force was ‘just a poor Colombian fisherman’. Does this look like a fishing boat?
It looks like he had tons of bait (cocaine, attracts lots of fish). Colombian president is a liar!!”
This was in direct response to Petro’s allegations that a recent U.S. strike had killed an innocent fisherman, Alejandro Carranza, whose boat was adrift after engine trouble.
Social Media Users Flag the Image Originating from 2024
Social media users quickly flagged the image as originating from a 2024 drug bust off the Canary Islands, as reported by Spanish outlet El País—completely unrelated to the current U.S.-Colombia dispute.
A community note on X confirmed: “This photo is from a drug bust that occurred in 2024, zero ties to the current situation.”
The post was deleted shortly after, but not before drawing sharp criticism.
Political commentator Krystal Ball remarked on X: “They lie so brazenly that it is still shocking to me.”
This isn’t the first time DHS has been accused of repurposing old footage to fit a narrative.
Earlier this month, the White House shared a video purporting to show “chaos” in Chicago, complete with masked agents kicking in doors and making arrests, overlaid with President Trump’s voiceover calling the city a “mess” and attacking local Democratic leaders.
But eagle-eyed viewers spotted palm trees in the background—hallmarks of Florida, not Illinois.
The footage actually came from ICE raids in April in the Sunshine State, near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.
Columbian President Calls the U.N. for a “Murder” Investigation
The drug boat flap comes against the backdrop of Trump’s aggressive campaign against Latin American drug cartels, which has included at least six strikes on suspected smuggling vessels, resulting in about 29 deaths.
Petro, a vocal critic, has called for a U.N. investigation, labeling one strike a “murder” that violated Colombian sovereignty.
Trump fired back, branding Petro an “illegal drug leader” and threatening tariffs on Colombian exports.
Critics argue these missteps are symptomatic of deeper issues within DHS, where public statements have repeatedly clashed with facts on the ground.
Take the case of 18-year-old Evelyn, a U.S. citizen violently arrested by ICE agents in a Chicago suburb last week.
Viral video showed an officer slamming her to the ground and kneeling on her neck during what appeared to be a mistaken detention.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin reposted the footage on X, claiming it was “a burglary arrest Chicago Police made over a year ago” and insisting it “isn’t even ICE.”
McLaughlin is currently under scrutiny for publicly disclosing a 13-year-old migrant’s alleged criminal history, including name, DOB, and mugshot, drawing legal criticism.
Law experts labeled the disclosures “intentional and willful violations.”
But details like the officer’s ERO (Enforcement and Removal Operations) jacket and a Hoffman Estates Police vehicle proved otherwise—the arrest happened Friday, involved ICE, and the girls were held for hours without charges.
Evelyn’s mother, Jazmin, told CBS News: “They were telling them they were U.S. citizens, and they didn’t care. It was very scary to see.”
Her father, Gerardo, added: “I couldn’t protect my child.”
In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass and congressional Democrats have launched investigations into ICE and DHS after reports that immigration raids wrongly detained over 170 U.S. citizens.
Web of Lies Against Migrants Draws Massive Scrutiny from Americans
Similar discrepancies have surfaced in other high-profile arrests.
In Chicago, DHS claimed a U.S. citizen, Marimar Martinez, rammed a CBP vehicle while armed with a semi-automatic weapon, leading to agents shooting her.
McLaughlin echoed this on X, but the criminal complaint omitted any mention of a weapon, and Martinez’s attorney, Christopher Parente, clarified she had a holstered handgun in her purse that was never drawn.
Parente told reporters: “Normally in a criminal case I would not speak to the media until the case is over, but there is such misinformation out there that the public needs to see this is not what they’ve been sold by the government.”
Another incident involved the detention of 13-year-old Arthur Berto in Massachusetts, where McLaughlin claimed on X that he “was in possession of a firearm and 5-7 inch knife.”
Local mayor Carlo DeMaria confirmed the knife but flatly denied any gun was found: “No guns were found.”
And in a separate Chicago arrest, DHS alleged a WGN employee, Debbie Brockman, threw objects at agents and assaulted them—claims her attorneys denied, noting she was released without charges after hours in custody.
Tensions boiled over in Illinois, where Governor J.B. Pritzker blasted ICE raids as turning Chicago into a “war zone” and accused agents of racial profiling.
He said on TV: “If they’re not gonna focus on the worst of the worst, which is what the president said they were gonna do, they need to get the heck out.”
McLaughlin fired back on X, calling Pritzker’s comments a “smorgasbord of lies” and denying children were zip-tied during a raid that arrested 37 people with alleged ties to gangs and crimes.
Eyewitnesses told local media they saw kids “coming out buck naked” and loaded into vans.
McLaughlin taunted Pritzker further: “If JB Pritzker actually walked his own city he would see the domestic terrorists attacking American law enforcement officers.”
Out west, Noem herself accused Portland officials of “lying” after a visit where she claimed streets were overrun with terrorists—despite local leaders insisting the city was managing just fine.
At a Cabinet meeting, she said of Mayor Keith Wilson, Governor Tina Kotek, and Police Chief Bob Day: “They’re all lying, and disingenuous, and dishonest people.”
Wilson countered that the calm scene Noem witnessed proved Portland was handling public safety “professionally and responsibly.”
Day called her allegations “abhorrent,” demanding video evidence for claims that officers cheered anti-ICE slogans.
But It Gets Worse: DOJ Whistleblower States Superiors Pushed Him to Lie in Court
One deportee, Kilmar Abrego Garcia—a Maryland father—was sent by mistake.
Instead of fixing it, Ex-DOJ lawyer Erez Reuveni’s superiors pushed him to argue in court that Garcia was an MS-13 gang member and terrorist, which Reuveni knew was false.
“I responded up the chain of command, no way. That is not correct,” he said. “That is not factually correct. It is not legally correct. That is a lie. And I cannot sign my name to that brief.”
For refusing, he was fired, ending his long DOJ career, and he filed a whistleblower complaint in June.
These repeated clashes have prompted experts to warn about eroding trust.
CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams noted: “DHS’s problem is how alarmingly consistent judges have been with their questions about the department’s work and its attorneys’ trustworthiness.”
Former DHS executive Juliette Kayyem added: “In an era where everyone has a camera in their pocket, social media has been flooded with videos of immigration operations.
DHS must seriously understand that any blatantly misleading claim about tactics can often be easily disproved.”
As DHS pushes to meet Trump’s deportation goals, these incidents raise questions about transparency and accountability in an already heated political climate.
Also Read: A DOJ Whistleblower Now Makes Revelation That Undermines the Judicial System’s Integrity
