US military strike on alleged drug boat kills 3 in the eastern Pacific

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military launched another strike Tuesday on a vessel suspected of transporting drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing three men.

The attack came a day after U.S. forces struck an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea, killing two people.

The Trump administration’s campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters has persisted since early September and killed at least 191 people in total.

Despite the Iran war, the strikes have ramped up again in recent weeks, showing that the administration’s aggressive measures to stop what it calls “narcoterrorism” in the Western Hemisphere are not letting up. The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs.

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 then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. He was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty.

In the attack Tuesday, U.S. Southern Command once again said it had targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. It posted a video on X showing a boat cruising along the water before a huge explosion left the vessel in flames.

President Donald 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 United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

Critics, meanwhile, have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes.