Daijiworld Media Network – Washington

Washington, May 27: The United States military carried out another strike on a vessel suspected of drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific Ocean, leaving one person dead and two others rescued, according to official reports.

A video shared by the US Southern Command on social media showed a speeding boat erupting into flames after being targeted during the operation.

Following the strike, Southern Command said the US Coast Guard was immediately alerted to activate search and rescue operations for the survivors.

The latest incident comes amid the Trump administration’s intensified crackdown on alleged drug-trafficking networks operating across Latin American waters, including the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Reports stated that the anti-drug operations, which began in early September, have so far resulted in at least 194 deaths. However, the US military has not publicly released evidence confirming that the targeted vessels were carrying narcotics.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon’s inspector general last week announced a review into whether the US military followed established targeting procedures while carrying out the strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats.

According to officials, the review was initiated internally and would examine compliance with the military’s six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle, which includes command authorisation, target identification, analysis, execution and post-strike assessment.

The Pentagon clarified that the review would not examine the legality of the strikes themselves, despite growing criticism from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal experts.

The Trump administration has defended the operations, stating that the United States is effectively at war with Latin American drug cartels, which it blames for the growing number of fatal drug overdose cases across American communities.