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The U.S. military said it carried out a strike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Friday, killing two men and leaving one survivor. The account was released alongside video posted by U.S. Southern Command, which showed an image of a boat on the water before an explosion appeared to occur over the ocean.
Southern Command shared the video after the strike, showing a black, boat-shaped image and what appeared to be a blast, followed by a column of fire rising from the sea. In the post, Southern Command said it “immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivor.”
The incident adds to a broader pattern of U.S. military action against vessels the administration characterizes as involved in drug trafficking, including operations carried out in Latin American waters. AP reported that the strikes have ramped up again in recent weeks, even as the military has not provided evidence backing claims that the targeted vessels were carrying drugs.
MSI previously reported on similar strikes in the eastern Pacific, including an April operation in which the U.S. military said it killed two men and left one survivor. As reported on April 26, the administration framed the attacks as part of an effort to disrupt drug trafficking networks.
The AP report tied the latest strike to the Trump administration’s counterterrorism approach in the Western Hemisphere. The White House announced Wednesday that President Donald Trump signed off on a new counterterrorism strategy that sets eliminating drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere as the administration’s highest priority.
AP said Trump has also pressed regional leaders to work more closely with the United States to target cartels and, in some cases, take military action themselves against drug traffickers and transnational gangs. The administration has described such groups as posing an “unacceptable threat” to national security in the hemisphere.
Critics, meanwhile, have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes. AP reported that the U.S. campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters has been ongoing since early September and has killed at least 193 people in total, based on AP’s reporting, while the military has not provided evidence that the vessels were carrying drugs.
The latest strike’s search-and-rescue response underscores that the operation left at least one person alive, even as the administration continues to expand maritime interdiction by force in the region.