The U.S. military said it destroyed two boats accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific on Saturday, killing five people and leaving one survivor, the military reported Sunday. The strikes, carried out along known smuggling routes, were announced by U.S. Southern Command, which did not release evidence publicly that the vessels were carrying drugs.
Videos shared on X showed small boats moving across the water before each was struck and consumed by bright explosions. Southern Command said it notified the U.S. Coast Guard; the Coast Guard confirmed it was coordinating search-and-rescue efforts for the lone survivor and said it would provide updates when available.
The latest attacks bring the number of people killed in U.S. strikes on boats to at least 168 since the administration began targeting so-called “narcoterrorists” in early September. President Donald Trump has declared the United States to be in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and defended the strikes as necessary to reduce drug flows and overdose deaths. The administration has offered little public evidence that those killed were members of designated narcotics groups, and critics have questioned both the legality and the effectiveness of the maritime strikes.
Observers have noted that much of the fentanyl implicated in overdose deaths in the U.S. is trafficked overland from Mexico and is often produced there using precursor chemicals imported from China and India. Those points have raised doubts about how much impact maritime strikes alone can have on the broader supply chain.
The operations in Latin America have continued while U.S. forces are also engaged in the Middle East. On Sunday, after U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without agreement, President Trump said the U.S. Navy would begin a blockade of ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command said the planned blockade would involve Iranian ports.