The US military struck a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Sunday, killing two people it accused of trafficking drugs, according to US Southern Command. The command announced the operation on Monday, ending a pause of more than two months.
The strike was carried out against a low-profile vessel on what Southern Command described as an established narcotrafficking route. The command did not provide evidence that the vessel was carrying drugs.
What Southern Command reported
Southern Command said its forces conducted a “lethal kinetic strike” on the vessel. The command said the wider campaign has destroyed 64 speedboats, three low-profile ships and one semisubmersible craft.
The latest operation brings the reported toll to 223 people killed in 67 strikes during the nearly year-long campaign, which has targeted alleged drug boats off Latin America’s Caribbean coast and in the eastern Pacific.
A campaign with few rescues
Southern Command said there have been more than 20 search-and-rescue efforts during the campaign, almost all unsuccessful. Data compiled from the command’s social media posts identified 28 survivors, but only three people were ultimately rescued.
The first strike in September 2025 left two survivors who were killed in a follow-up strike. The White House said that action was conducted in self-defense and complied with the laws of armed conflict, while legal scholars said killing survivors would be unlawful under any circumstances.
Questions over expansion and legality
The renewed strike comes as the Trump administration seeks agreements with allied governments to extend operations onto land in Latin America. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to joint operations against criminal groups, but Guatemala denied reaching such a deal. Ecuador began similar missions with the US in March.
President Donald Trump has described the US as being in armed conflict with cartels and defended the strikes as necessary to stop drugs and fatal overdoses in the United States. Critics have questioned both the legality and effectiveness of the campaign, noting that fentanyl is typically trafficked into the US over land from Mexico. The Pentagon’s inspector general said in May that it plans to examine whether the military followed its six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle; the review will not assess the strikes’ legality.
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