The United States military has confirmed that a strike on a vessel suspected of drug trafficking in the Eastern Pacific Ocean has left three people dead. The operation, conducted on Sunday, targeted a boat that the US Southern Command described as being engaged in narco-trafficking operations and operated by designated terrorist organisations.
The attack brings the total death toll from the US campaign against drug boats in the region to at least 185, according to an Agence France-Presse tally. The military released a video showing a boat moving swiftly through the water before an explosion engulfed it in flames.
Since September, the Trump administration has conducted dozens of similar strikes but has not provided definitive evidence linking the vessels to drug trafficking. Legal experts and human rights groups have raised concerns that the operations could constitute extrajudicial killings, as they appear to target civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the US.
The strikes are part of a broader US military buildup in the region, which preceded the January raid that seized former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. Maduro, who has pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges, was brought to New York to face trial. President Donald Trump has described the US as being in an 'armed conflict' with Latin American cartels and justified the attacks as necessary to curb the flow of drugs into the country.
No US military personnel were injured in the operation, according to officials.
