The U.S. military carried out another strike Saturday on a boat accused of drug smuggling in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing three men. This marks the fourth attack this week, bringing the total death toll to 205.
U.S. Southern Command announced the strike, claiming the boat was “engaged in narco-trafficking operations” and operated by a “designated terrorist organization.” No evidence was provided to substantiate these allegations.
This latest action is part of a monthslong offensive against alleged drug vessels traversing the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific.
Military video shows a small boat floating before being struck and engulfed in a fireball.
The U.S. military said it carried out another strike Friday on a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing three men.
While the military’s social media announcements always include video of the attacks, this appears to be the first with the footage in color instead of black and white. The video shows a small vessel floating in the ocean before it’s hit and engulfed in a fireball. It cuts to what could be the boat in flames, surrounded by a large plume of parcels or some other objects spread around it in the water.
The attack brings the death toll to 205 in a series of U.S. strikes that began in early September, with other attacks announced on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. The Trump administration has declared that the U.S. is at armed conflict with Latin American drug cartels, saying they are behind the flow of drugs into American communities.
U.S. Southern Command said in its post on X that the strike came at the direction of Gen. Francis L. Donovan, the top U.S. commander in Latin America, who on Friday also met with Cuban military leaders near the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay.
