U.S. hits 3 more alleged drug boats in Pacific, killing 8, military says
The U.S. military says it struck three more alleged drug-carrying boats in the Eastern Pacific on Monday, the latest in a campaign of vessel strikes ordered by the Trump administration that have killed at least 95 people in 25 boats.
Monday's strikes killed eight men across three boats, the U.S. military's Southern Command said in a post on X. It alleged the occupants were "male narco-terrorists" and the boats were "transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking." The strike was authorized by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Southern Command said.
Southern Command also posted a 47-second video that appeared to show three separate strikes on vessels.
The U.S. military began striking boats in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean in early September, part of what the Trump administration has described as a "non-international armed conflict" against drug cartels that it has designated as terror groups.
The campaign is increasingly controversial, however. Democratic lawmakers and a handful of Republicans argue the Trump administration lacks legal authority to conduct the strikes and hasn't provided sufficient evidence that the boats were actually carrying narcotics.
Meanwhile, a Sept. 2 strike that started off the campaign has drawn scrutiny after reports emerged that two people in the vessel survived the initial hit but were killed in a follow-on strike. Democrats who watched a video of the Sept. 2 operation decried the decision, and some critics have warned that killing shipwrecked survivors could constitute a war crime. Republicans have defended the follow-on strike, arguing the survivors may have still been in the fight.
The boat strikes are part of a broader U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean and near Latin America, with several naval vessels — including the USS Gerald R. Ford — and fighter jets shifting to the region in recent months.
The administration has heaped pressure on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, accusing him of collaborating with drug cartels, and it has also argued that Colombia has failed to crack down on drug trafficking. Both countries have criticized the boat strikes, and the Venezuelan government has accused the Trump administration of seeking regime change.
