Daijiworld Media Network – Washington
Washington, Jun 19: The United States military carried out a strike on a boat suspected of drug smuggling in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday, killing three people, as the Trump administration continues its intensified campaign against alleged narcotics trafficking networks in Latin America.
According to the US Southern Command, the vessel was targeted along what officials described as a known drug-smuggling route. However, authorities did not publicly provide evidence that the boat was carrying narcotics at the time of the strike.
A video shared by the military on social media showed a speedboat travelling across the ocean before being hit and engulfed in flames.
The latest operation adds to a series of military strikes launched since September, when the Trump administration began targeting groups it labels as “narcoterrorists”. Reports indicate that at least 211 people have been killed in such maritime strikes since the campaign began.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that the United States is engaged in an “armed conflict” with Latin American drug cartels and has defended the operations as necessary to curb the flow of illegal drugs into the country and reduce overdose-related deaths.
However, the military campaign has drawn criticism from lawmakers and legal experts, who have questioned both the legality and effectiveness of the strikes. Critics argue that much of the fentanyl responsible for overdose deaths in the US is trafficked over land through Mexico rather than by sea.
The operations have also come under increasing scrutiny in Congress. Several senators have called on the Pentagon to release unedited footage of the strikes, while military law scholars have raised concerns about compliance with international legal standards.
Particular attention has focused on an earlier strike in September in which two men reportedly survived an initial attack and were later killed when the damaged vessel was struck again. The White House defended the second strike as an act of self-defence intended to eliminate the threat and destroy the vessel.
Legal experts, however, have argued that targeting survivors could violate the laws governing armed conflict.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon’s Inspector General announced in May that it would review whether military officials followed established targeting procedures during the operations. The review, however, is limited to examining adherence to the military’s targeting framework and does not address the broader legal questions surrounding the strikes.
The controversy continues as the administration presses ahead with its anti-cartel operations across maritime routes in the Pacific and Caribbean regions.