The US military has conducted another strike against a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday, killing two people and leaving six survivors amid an ongoing campaign against alleged traffickers in Latin America.
The latest attack — which now numbers more than 60 — brings the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the US military to more than 210 people since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.
It is unclear if the survivors of this strike, or the one conducted on June 16, which left two survivors, were rescued. However, in both cases, US Central Command said that they notified the US Coast Guard. The Pentagon did not immediately answer questions about the out as with most of the military’s statements on strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, US Southern Command said it targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs.
A black and white video posted on X showed a boat speeding through the water before being struck by a visible projectile and then bursting into flames.
President Donald Trump has said the US is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”
Critics of the strikes have questioned the overall legality as well as their effectiveness. Part of the argument has been that the fentanyl behind many fatal US drug overdoses is typically trafficked over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.
