Three people were killed Wednesday in another U.S. strike on an alleged drug-carrying boat in the eastern Pacific, the Pentagon said.
U.S. Southern Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in Latin America, said in a social media post that the “lethal kinetic strike” targeted “a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” killing “three male narco-terrorists.” An unclassified video of the strike was included with the post.
A similar U.S. strike on Tuesday in the eastern Pacific killed four people, while a strike Monday killed two, SOUTHCOM said. Two strikes Saturday on two separate vessels left five people dead and one survivor; the U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search for that survivor.
Wednesday’s strike brings the death toll to at least 178 since the operations began in the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean in early September. At least 53 vessels have been targeted.
President Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S. and fatal overdoses. His administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”
The strikes began months before the U.S. raid in January that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Maduro was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty.
Critics have questioned the legality of the boat strikes and their effectiveness, noting that much of the fentanyl behind fatal overdoses is typically trafficked over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.