The operation is the latest consequence of a monthslong Trump administration campaign of attacking suspected narco-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific — a campaign that, as of Friday, had produced 35 strikes and at least 115 deaths, according to figures announced by the administration itself.

The U.S. Coast Guard said Friday it was still searching the eastern Pacific Ocean for survivors of military strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats, days after the attacks, as harsh weather and the passage of time sharply diminished the likelihood that anyone would be found alive.

The search covered more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of open ocean and began Tuesday afternoon after the military notified the Coast Guard that people were in the water roughly 400 miles (650 kilometers) southwest of the border between Mexico and Guatemala, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The strikes

The U.S. military said it struck five alleged drug-smuggling boats over two days, killing a total of eight people while others jumped overboard. The U.S. has not said how many people went into the water, leaving the full potential death toll unclear.

U.S. Southern Command, which oversees the region, said three people were killed when the first boat was struck. People aboard the other two boats jumped overboard and distanced themselves from the vessels before those boats were hit, Southern Command said.

The military said the three targeted boats were traveling along known narco-trafficking routes and “had transferred narcotics between the three vessels prior to the strikes.” The military did not provide evidence to support the claim.

The strikes occurred in a part of the eastern Pacific where the Navy does not have any ships operating. Southern Command said it notified the Coast Guard to activate search and rescue efforts for people who had jumped before the subsequent boats were struck.

Search conditions

The Coast Guard dispatched a plane from Sacramento, California, to search the area and issued an urgent warning to nearby ships. The agency said it coordinated more than 65 hours of search efforts, working with other countries as well as civilian vessels in the area. Weather during the search included 9-foot seas and 40-knot winds.

The decision to notify the Coast Guard was notable given a September 2025 incident in which U.S. forces killed the survivors of an earlier boat attack with a follow-up strike on their disabled vessel. Some Democratic lawmakers and legal experts said the military committed a crime in that attack. The Trump administration and some Republican lawmakers said the follow-up strike was legal.

Other survivors of the broader campaign have emerged. The Mexican Navy suspended a search for one survivor in late October after four days. Two survivors of a strike on a submersible vessel in the Caribbean Sea that same month were sent to their home countries — Ecuador and Colombia. Ecuadorian authorities later released the Ecuadorian man, saying they had no evidence he had committed a crime in the country.

Campaign totals

Under President Donald Trump’s direction, the U.S. military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific since early September 2025. As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes stood at 35 and the number of people killed was at least 115, according to figures announced by the Trump administration.

Trump has justified the strikes as necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and has asserted that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

Along with the strikes, the Trump administration has built up military forces in the region as part of an escalating pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has been charged with narco-terrorism in the United States.