The latest attack brings the number of people who have been killed by the U.S. military's boat strikes to at least 240 in more than 70 strikes. The Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in September 2025.
As with most of the military’s statements on strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, U.S. Southern Command said it targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes and that “intelligence revealed the vessel’s active involvement in narcotrafficking.”
President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and he has sought to justify the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives.
