WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Sunday that it blew up two boats accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing a total of five people and leaving one survivor, as the Trump administrationpursues its campaignagainst alleged traffickers in Latin America whilepreparing a naval blockadeof Iranian ports.
The attacks on Saturday bring the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military to at least 168 since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.
As with most of the military’s statements on the dozens of strikes in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea, U.S. Southern Command said it targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. Videos posted on X showed small boats moving across the water before they each were engulfed in a bright explosion.
U.S. Southern Command stated on X that it notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate the search-and-rescue system for the survivor. The Coast Guard confirmed it was coordinating the search and said updates would be provided when available.
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President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and hasjustified the attacksas 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.”
Criticshave questioned the overall legalityof 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 boat strikes have continued in Latin America even as the U.S. military has focused on operations in the Middle East, where the U.S. was engaged in a war with Iran for several weeks.
Trump on Sunday said the U.S. Navy would begin a blockade of ships entering or leaving theStrait of Hormuz, afterU.S.-Iran ceasefire talksin Pakistan ended without an agreement. Trump wants to weaken Iran’s key leverage inthe warafter demanding that it reopen the crucial waterway through which 20% of global oil normally passes. U.S. Central Command said the blockade would involve Iranian ports.
