U.S. forces killed two people in a strike on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific, bringing the reported death toll from the Trump administration’s maritime campaign off Latin America to more than 210.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
The U.S. military carried out another lethal strike against a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing two people as the Trump administration broadens its campaign against suspected drug-trafficking networks operating across Latin America.
U.S. Southern Command announced the operation early Monday, saying the targeted vessel was traveling along known narcotics routes and had been identified through intelligence as carrying illegal drugs.
The Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere “executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific,” according to the command.
The latest operation brings the reported death toll from the administration’s series of military strikes on vessels in the eastern Pacific and along Latin America’s Caribbean coast to more than 210 people following more than 60 strikes.
Gen. Francis Donovan, commander of U.S. Southern Command, said the campaign is intended to place sustained pressure on criminal organizations involved in narcotics trafficking.
“We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists — disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region,” Donovan said.
The eastern Pacific strike comes as Washington prepares to expand its counter-narcotics operations beyond maritime targets.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said days earlier during a visit to Panama that the United States would extend its offensive onto land in several Latin American countries.
According to Hegseth, Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to permit joint U.S. military operations targeting criminal organizations within their territories.
Guatemala subsequently denied that it had reached such an agreement.
The conflicting accounts have added uncertainty over the scope of the administration’s planned land-based operations and which governments have formally authorized American forces to participate inside their countries.
Ecuador has already conducted similar missions in cooperation with the United States, beginning joint operations in March.
The administration’s approach represents an increasingly militarized effort to disrupt narcotics networks before drugs reach the United States, using direct strikes against suspected trafficking vessels while developing partnerships with regional governments for operations on land.
Monday’s strike underscores the continuing pace of the maritime campaign, with U.S. forces now responsible for more than 60 such operations and a cumulative reported death toll exceeding 210 as Washington moves toward a broader offensive against cartels and other criminal groups throughout the region.
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