U.S. strikes alleged drug boats kill 5, Trump vows Hormuz blockade

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The U.S. military said it struck two boats accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Saturday, killing five people and leaving one survivor, according to a statement released Sunday. The announcement came as the Trump administration continues a campaign against alleged traffickers in Latin America.

In its account of the attacks, U.S. Southern Command said it targeted alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes, but it did not provide evidence that the struck vessels were ferrying drugs. The military statement also pointed to social media video showing small boats moving across the water before explosions engulfed them.

U.S. Southern Command said it notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate the search-and-rescue system for the survivor. The Coast Guard confirmed that it was coordinating the search and said updates would be provided when available.

The latest strikes raised the death toll tied to the U.S. military’s “boat strikes” to at least 168 people since the Trump administration began targeting what it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September, the Associated Press reported. The AP said U.S. Southern Command has made similar statements about dozens of strikes in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea.

The AP reported that President Donald Trump has described the campaign as an “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America. Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation intended to stem drug flows into the United States and curb fatal overdoses.

The AP also said critics have questioned both the legality of the boat strikes and their effectiveness, in part because fentanyl that drives many overdoses is typically trafficked over land from Mexico, where it is produced using chemicals imported from China and India. The reporting said the U.S. campaign in Latin America has continued even as the United States focused on operations in the Middle East, where it was engaged in a war with Iran for several weeks.

Trump also pivoted Sunday to maritime pressure tied to the Iran conflict. Trump said the U.S. Navy would begin a blockade of ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz after U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks ended without an agreement in Pakistan.

The AP reported that Trump’s blockade plan would involve Iranian ports and that he wants to weaken Iran’s leverage in the war by restricting movement through a waterway that typically carries about 20% of global oil, according to U.S. statements. U.S. Central Command said the blockade would involve Iranian ports, according to the AP report.