Washington DC - US forces carried out a strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, leaving two people dead and a survivor who was rescued, officials said on Friday.

US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced the Thursday strike in a post on X the following day, saying it hit a "low-profile vessel [that] was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations."

SOUTHCOM described the strike as "lethal" but did not give a death toll, saying only that the Coast Guard was "immediately" notified to search for three survivors.

A Coast Guard spokesperson later said the services were "notified by SOUTHCOM of a report of three individuals in distress in the Pacific Ocean."

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A Coast Guard cutter "arrived on scene and recovered two deceased individuals and one survivor from the water," the spokesperson said, adding that it "transferred all persons to the Costa Rican Coast Guard."

The US began targeting alleged smuggling boats in early September, and the latest strike brings the death toll from the campaign to nearly 160.

President Donald Trump's administration insists it is effectively at war with what it calls "narco-terrorists" operating in Latin America.

But it has provided no definitive evidence that the vessels it targets are involved in drug trafficking, prompting heated debate about the legality of the operations.