US Strike on Suspected Drug Boat in Pacific Kills Two as Anti-Cartel Campaign Intensifies
Washington— The U.S. military said Friday it carried out another strike on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people and leaving one survivor, as the Trump administration expanded an increasingly controversial campaign against what it calls “narco-terrorism” in the Western Hemisphere.
United States Southern Command released video footage on social media showing what appeared to be a vessel at sea moments before an explosion engulfed it in flames.The military said it immediately alerted the United States Coast Guard to begin search-and-rescue operations for the surviving individual.The strike marked the latest in a series of U.S. military operations targeting suspected drug-trafficking boats in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea since September
. According to Associated Press reporting, the campaign has resulted in at least 193 deaths. The Pentagon has repeatedly said the targeted vessels were operating along known drug-smuggling routes and linked to trafficking networks, though officials have not publicly presented evidence showing that the destroyed boats were carrying narcotics.
The operation came days after the White House announced that President Donald Trump had approved a revised U.S. counterterrorism strategy prioritizing the dismantling of drug cartels across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Trump has described cartels as an “unacceptable threat” to hemispheric security and has urged regional governments to intensify military cooperation with Washington against organized crime and transnational gangs.
The strikes have intensified in recent weeks despite growing scrutiny from legal scholars and human rights groups, who have questioned the legality of using military force against suspected traffickers outside conventional armed conflict zones.
Critics have argued the operations risk constituting extrajudicial killings because the U.S. government has disclosed limited evidence about the identities of those targeted or the intelligence underpinning the attacks.
The campaign has also coincided with a major expansion of U.S. military activity in Latin America and Caribbean waters, where the administration says it is attempting to curb narcotics flows into the United States and disrupt cartel financing networks.
