U.S. strike on alleged drug boat kills 2 in eastern Pacific Ocean

The U.S. military attacked a boat it said was smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, killing two men.

The latest attack brings the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military to at least 207 since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September, according to The Associated Press.

U.S. Southern Command said it targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. A video posted on X showed a boat speeding through the water before bursting into 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,” The Associated Press reported.

Critics have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the U.S. over land from Mexico.