The U.S. military announced another strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, with the Pentagon saying two people were killed. The announcement was made by U.S. Southern Command on social media, and it followed a broader campaign in which the Trump administration has linked the operations to disrupting drug trafficking into the United States.
The military said the targeted vessel “was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” though it did not provide evidence to support the claim. In a video posted alongside the strike announcement, the footage shows a boat moving through the water before being hit by two explosions.
The Trump administration said the strike marked the 30th known boat attack, and it put the death toll from the campaign at at least 107 people since early September. The count, as described by the administration, has been used to underscore the pace of the military action in the eastern Pacific and surrounding waters.
President Donald Trump cited the strikes as part of what he called an escalation meant to stem drug flows, and he has asserted that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. Trump also faced questions from reporters about an “explosion in Venezuela,” which he addressed while meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida.
Trump told reporters that the U.S. had “hit” a dock facility along a shore where boats accused of carrying drugs “load up.” The White House, the Pentagon and Trump did not provide further details about the dock facility or the incident beyond his remarks.
The strike campaign has also been paired with other actions in the region aimed at pressuring Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the United States. The U.S. has built up military forces in the region as part of what U.S. officials describe as escalating pressure on Maduro.
Maduro has said the operations are designed to force him out of power, rejecting the administration’s stated rationale for the strikes. In December, the Trump administration also began a new tactic involving sanctioned oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast, seizing two and pursuing a third, which it said led some sanctioned tankers to divert away from Venezuela.
Lawmakers have scrutinized the boat strike campaign, including how earlier attacks were carried out. The scrutiny has grown amid revelations that the first attack in early September involved a follow-up strike that killed two survivors clinging to the wreckage of a boat after an initial hit.