The U.S. military carried out a deadly strike Tuesday against a vessel in the eastern Pacific that it said was involved in drug trafficking, killing five people described by U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) as “narco-terrorists.”
“On October 27, under the direction of SOUTHCOM, Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere executed a lethal, kinetic strike on a go-fast vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific,” SOUTHCOM said in a statement.
The command said intelligence had confirmed that the vessel was actively engaged in drug trafficking.
Five people whom SOUTHCOM identified as narco-terrorists were killed in the operation, according to the statement.
U.S. Southern Command released video of a military strike against a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific on Oct. 27, 2026. (U.S. Southern Command)
The attack is the latest in the Trump administration’s months-long campaign against suspected cartel vessels. The operation has now resulted in at least 240 deaths across more than 70 strikes, The Associated Press reported.
Footage released by SOUTHCOM shows the vessel moving across the water before it is engulfed by a massive fireball.
SOUTHCOM did not disclose the precise location of the strike, saying only that it occurred in the eastern Pacific along known drug-trafficking routes.
A vessel bursts into flames after a U.S. military strike in the eastern Pacific killed five people, according to SOUTHCOM. (U.S. Southern Command)
During the campaign, the military has released videos and statements labeling people aboard targeted vessels “narco-terrorists” or alleging that they had ties to designated terrorist organizations. In most cases, however, officials have not identified those killed or supplied evidence that the vessels were carrying narcotics.
The strikes have drawn criticism and scrutiny from lawmakers, legal specialists and human rights organizations. They have questioned the legal justification for using deadly military force against suspected drug traffickers outside a conventional battlefield.
SOUTHCOM’s ongoing counter-narcotics operations in Latin America and the Caribbean come after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that the United States was increasingly looking to conduct such missions with regional allies and in accordance with their laws.
Rubio told reporters that although the United States has “the capacity to act unilaterally,” Washington would prefer to work with its allies because cooperation is “the most effective way to do it.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the United States prefers working with regional allies on counter-narcotics missions while retaining the ability to act alone. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Rubio also said the U.S. military would “still blow up ships if need be,” adding that decisions would be made on a “strike-by-strike or operation-by-operation” basis.
In recent months, SOUTHCOM has released several videos showing military personnel intercepting and boarding vessels it said were involved in drug trafficking. The crews were removed before the boats were sunk, according to the command.