Washington DC - The US military, led by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, announced it carried out a strike Tuesday on a boat it claimed was involved in drug smuggling in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
The strike, which killed five people, targeted "a go-fast vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes," US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said on X.
"Confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel's active involvement in narco-trafficking," SOUTHCOM added in the post, which included a video clip of a stationary vessel being engulfed in an explosion.
The US military began targeting alleged narcotics-smuggling boats in early September 2025, with President Donald Trump arguing that Washington is effectively at war with drug cartels operating out of Latin America.
Since then, at least 235 people have been killed in strikes in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific, according to a tally by AFP.
The Trump administration has not provided definitive evidence that the vessels it has been striking are involved in drug trafficking, fueling backlash against the deadly attacks.
Legal experts and rights groups have repeatedly warned that the strikes could amount to extrajudicial killings because they have apparently targeted civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the US.