The U.S. military launched a strike Friday on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people, according to U.S. Southern Command.<\/p>\n
No U.S. military forces were harmed in the operation, it said in a statement on X late Friday.<\/p>\n
U.S. Southern Command shared a video showing a boat floating in the water before an explosion left it in flames. It said it targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Trump administration’s campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters has killed at least 183 people in total since September. Other strikes have taken place in the Caribbean Sea<\/span>. The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs.<\/p>\n The attacks began as the U.S. built up its largest military presence in the region in generations and came months ahead of the raid in January that captured<\/span> then-Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. He was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n President Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S.<\/p>\n Critics have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes.<\/p>\n