May 8, 2026 / 11:12 PM EDT / CBS/AP
The U.S. military’s latest strike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific killed two men Friday and left one survivor, the Pentagon said. Social-media video posted by U.S. Southern Command shows a dark, boat-shaped object followed by an apparent explosion and a column of fire rising from the water.
Southern Command said it immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivor but did not provide further details on the rescue effort or the survivor’s condition.
The strike comes as the White House announced that President Trump has approved a new U.S. counterterrorism strategy that names the elimination of drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere as a top priority. Since early September, U.S. forces have been carrying out strikes on vessels they say are involved in drug trafficking in Latin American waters, including the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean.
That campaign has killed at least 192 people in total, according to counts tied to the operations. The military has not released evidence publicly showing that the targeted boats were carrying narcotics. The pace of strikes has increased in recent weeks.
The administration has also been pressing regional leaders to cooperate more closely with the U.S. and to consider military action against cartels and transnational gangs it describes as an “unacceptable threat” to hemispheric security. Critics have raised legal and ethical concerns about the strikes.
The initial operation that launched the campaign occurred on Sept. 2. In early December, the administration confirmed it conducted a follow-on, or “double tap,” strike after that attack that killed two survivors of the first strike. Some lawmakers have questioned whether that follow-on strike could amount to a war crime.