The U.S. military conducted a strike on a vessel suspected of drug trafficking in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the deaths of two men. This action is part of the Trump administration’s campaign against drug trafficking in Latin America. The recent strike brings the total number of deaths in attacks on vessels by the U.S. military to at least 207 since the White House initiated its campaign against alleged ‘narcoterrorists’ in early September.
As with most announcements regarding other attacks in the Pacific and Caribbean Sea, the U.S. Southern Command stated they fired at suspected drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. However, they did not provide evidence that the vessel was carrying drugs. A video posted on X showed a high-speed boat erupting in flames.
Trump has declared that the United States is in an ‘armed conflict’ with Latin American cartels, justifying these attacks as a necessary escalation to curb the flow of drugs into the United States and the overdoses that claim thousands of American lives each year. However, his administration has offered little evidence to substantiate claims of targeting ‘narcoterrorists.’
Critics have questioned the overall legality and effectiveness of these attacks, partly because fentanyl, responsible for many fatal overdoses, typically enters the U.S. overland from Mexico, made with chemicals from China and India. These attacks have faced intense scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers and military law experts.
The first attack in early September raised particular concern. Two men survived the initial attack, which killed nine others. As they clung to debris, a second strike occurred, resulting in their deaths. The White House confirmed the follow-up attack, insisting it was conducted ‘in self-defense’ to ensure the vessel’s destruction and in accordance with the laws of armed conflict. However, some experts argued that a second attack to kill survivors would have been illegal in any circumstance, whether in armed conflict or not.
The Pentagon’s oversight body announced in May plans to investigate whether U.S. forces followed an established framework for target selection during these attacks. However, the evaluation focuses specifically on what is known as the Joint Targeting Cycle’s six phases, not on the legality of the attacks, according to the inspector general’s office.