In a relentless campaign that has now spanned nearly a year, U.S. military efforts to bomb vessels suspected of drug trafficking have resulted in a death toll surpassing 210, following over 60 strategic strikes conducted in the Pacific region.
WASHINGTON — U.S. forces have launched another strike on a vessel within the eastern Pacific Ocean, leading to the deaths of two individuals accused of engaging in drug trafficking. The Department of Defense revealed this development on Monday, marking the first such attack disclosed in nearly two months.
Targeting suspected drug trafficking operations, the yearlong U.S. bombing campaign has led to a death toll exceeding 210, after more than 60 strikes executed off the coasts of Latin America in both the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific Ocean.
U.S. Southern Command announced via social media that their forces carried out a “lethal kinetic strike” on a discreet vessel navigating established narcotrafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific.
Consistent with previous military reports on strikes across the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, the Pentagon has withheld evidence regarding the vessel’s alleged drug transport. This latest strike marks the first since the devastating back-to-back earthquakes on June 24, which claimed thousands of lives.
“We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists — disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region,” said Gen. Francis Donovan, who leads U.S. Southern Command.
The latest strike comes as the Trump administration pursues deals with allied nations to extend its offensive to land across multiple Latin American countries. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a visit to Panama that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil. Guatemala denied reaching such a deal.
Ecuador launched similar missions with the U.S. in March.
President Donald Trump has said the U.S. 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 have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes, as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the U.S. over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.
The strikes, which began in early September, have drawn intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars.
The Pentagon’s watchdog said in May that it plans to look into whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework when carrying out the strikes. However, the evaluation is focused specifically on what’s known as the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle and not on the legality of the strikes, the inspector general’s office said.
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