The U.S. military conducted a strike on a vessel accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday, resulting in the deaths of two individuals and leaving six survivors. This operation is part of a broader campaign targeting alleged traffickers in Latin America.
This latest incident marks the 60th such strike, bringing the total number of people killed in U.S. military boat strikes to over 210 since the Trump administration initiated its campaign against those it terms “narcoterrorists” in early September. U.S. Southern Command stated that the vessel was targeted along known smuggling routes, though the military did not provide evidence of the boat carrying drugs.
Video footage shared by U.S. Southern Command on X shows a boat in motion before being struck by a projectile and igniting. The command stated that Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted the kinetic strike on a vessel operated by designated terrorist organizations.
It remains unclear if the survivors were rescued. U.S. Central Command indicated that the U.S. Coast Guard was notified in this instance and a prior strike on June 16 that also resulted in survivors. The Coast Guard had previously suspended its search for survivors from the June 16 strike after a day with no signs found.
President Donald Trump has characterized the situation as an “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America, asserting the attacks are a necessary escalation to curb drug flow into the U.S. and combat fatal overdoses. However, critics have questioned the legality and effectiveness of these strikes. Some legal scholars point out that fentanyl, a major contributor to U.S. drug overdoses, is often trafficked over land from Mexico, with precursors imported from China and India.
In a separate development, U.S. lawmakers on Thursday called for the Pentagon to release unedited video of an earlier strike. This request followed reports that the military conducted a follow-up strike on survivors of an initial attack. In that June incident, two men who initially survived an attack that killed nine others were killed when the boat was struck again while they clung to wreckage. The White House confirmed the second strike, defending it as an act of self-defense to ensure the vessel's destruction in accordance with the laws of armed conflict. However, some legal experts contend that a second strike resulting in the deaths of survivors would be illegal under any circumstances.
The Pentagon's inspector general's office announced in May plans to review whether the U.S. military adhered to an established targeting framework for these strikes. This review is focused on the Joint Targeting Cycle, not the legality of the strikes themselves.