A U.S. military attack on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific left one survivor and two people dead, U.S. officials said Friday, as the Trump administration continues pursuing what it calls a campaign against drug traffickers in Latin America. After the strike, U.S. Southern Command said it alerted the U.S. Coast Guard to begin search efforts for people who survived the attack.
Southern Command said it notified the Coast Guard to activate a search for three people who it said had survived the strike. In a statement, the Coast Guard said one of its ships recovered two dead bodies and one survivor and then transferred them to the Costa Rican Coast Guard.
The incident is part of a broader pattern of U.S. military attacks on vessels in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea, which have involved repeated strikes on boats the administration says are used for drug trafficking. The latest attack added to a tally of people killed in those boat strikes, bringing the number to at least 159 since the Trump administration began targeting those it describes as “narcoterrorists” in early September.
In most cases, U.S. Southern Command has said the military targeted alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. In Friday’s account, the military did not provide evidence that the vessel struck was ferrying drugs. Southern Command also posted video on X showing a vessel erupting into flames as it cruised through the water.
President Donald Trump has described the effort as escalating toward cartels in Latin America, and he has said the United States is in “armed conflict” with cartels. The administration has characterized the attacks as a way to stem drug flows into the United States and fatal overdoses, but critics have said the government has offered little evidence to support claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”
Critics have also questioned both the legality of the boat strikes and their effectiveness. They point to the fact that fentanyl, which they say is linked to many fatal overdoses in the United States, is typically trafficked over land from Mexico, where it is produced using chemicals imported from China and India.