U.S. Southern Command said a U.S. military strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the eastern Pacific killed three people on Sunday, according to a social media post from the command. The reporting said the incident occurred as the administration continues a campaign of hitting suspected drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters.
Southern Command posted a video on X showing a boat moving quickly in the water before an explosion left it in flames. In its post, the command repeated that the strike targeted alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes.
The strikes described in the report have continued since early September, when the administration began a campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the region. The report said the effort has killed at least 186 people in total, and that other strikes have taken place in the Caribbean Sea.
The reporting also said the U.S. military has not provided evidence publicly showing that any of the vessels struck were carrying drugs. Critics have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes.
The attacks began as the U.S. built up its largest military presence in the region in generations, the report said. The strikes also came months ahead of a January raid that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has pleaded not guilty in U.S. court on drug trafficking charges.
President Donald Trump has argued that the campaign is part of a broader conflict with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.