The US military killed three people Wednesday in its fifth strike in five days targeting suspected drug-trafficking boats in the eastern Pacific, marking US Southern Command’s most concentrated stretch of publicly announced strikes in its monthslong anti-drug smuggling operation since the war in Iran began.
Fourteen people were confirmed dead during that five-day span, which included strikes on five boats, two on Saturday, killing a combined five people; one on Monday, killing two people; another on Tuesday, killing four people; and on Wednesday, when three people were killed.
A lone survivor from one of Saturday’s strikes remained missing late Wednesday after the US Coast Guard told UPI that a search for the man was suspended Monday after no signs of the survivor or debris were found.
Like its previous announcements, SOUTHCOM offered little information about its most recent strike, which it made public in a statement late Wednesday.
It said Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted “a lethal kinetic strike” on a vessel in the eastern Pacific that it claimed was being operated by designated terrorist organisations.
SOUTHCOM said intelligence confirmed the vessel was traveling along “known narco-trafficking routes” and was “engaged in narco-trafficking operations.”
No proof was provided.
A 20-second black-and-white clip of aerial footage of the attack shows a boat traveling across the water before it is struck by a projectile and bursts into flames.
Since returning to the White House in January 2025, President Donald Trump has led an aggressive anti-drug campaign that has included designating ten drug cartels and gangs. (UPI)
