U.S. Military Strike Kills One in Suspected Drug Boat in Eastern Pacific

The U.S. military attacked a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, killing one man and leaving two survivors.

The latest attack brings the number of people killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military to at least 208 since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls "narcoterrorists" in early September.

U.S. Southern Command said it targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes, as it has in most strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. A video posted on X showed a boat traveling in the water before being hit by the strike and bursting into flames.

Southern Command said it "immediately notified U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors."

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 United States. His administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing "narcoterrorists."

Critics have questioned the legality and effectiveness of the boat strikes. Much of the fentanyl behind fatal overdoses reaches the U.S. over land from Mexico.

The strikes have drawn scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars. The first strike in early September raised particular concern.

In an earlier incident, two men initially survived an attack that killed nine others. They were clinging to the wreckage when the vessel was struck again, killing them. The White House confirmed the follow-up strike, saying it was done "in self-defense" to ensure the boat was destroyed and in accordance with the laws of armed conflict.

Some legal scholars said a second strike killing survivors would have been illegal under any circumstance.

The Pentagon's watchdog said in May that it plans to examine whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework. The review focuses on the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle and not on the legality of the strikes.