April 26, 2026 / 11:43 PM EDT / CBS/AP
A U.S. military strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean killed three people Sunday, U.S. Southern Command said in a social media post.
The campaign of destroying alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters began in early September under the Trump administration and has killed at least 186 people in total. Some strikes have occurred in the Caribbean Sea as well.
The military has not provided evidence that the targeted vessels were carrying drugs. When asked about a previous eastern Pacific strike that killed two men, a Southern Command spokesperson told CBS News, “For operational security reasons, we cannot discuss specific sources or methods.”
After Sunday’s attack, Southern Command posted a video on X showing a boat moving quickly before an explosion set it aflame. The command said it targeted the alleged traffickers along known smuggling routes.
The strikes started as the U.S. built up its largest military presence in the region in generations and came months before the January raid that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Maduro was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty.
The campaign has intensified again in recent weeks, with at least eight boat strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific so far this month. President Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has defended the attacks as necessary to curb drug flows into the United States. Critics have questioned the overall legality of the strikes.