U.S. hits 3 extra alleged drug boats in Pacific, killing 8, navy says

The U.S. navy says it struck three extra alleged drug-carrying boats within the Eastern Pacific on Monday, the most recent in a marketing campaign of vessel strikes ordered by the Trump administration which have killed a minimum of 95 individuals in 25 boats.

Monday’s strikes killed eight males throughout three boats, the U.S. navy’s Southern Command stated in a put up on X. It alleged the occupants have been “male narco-terrorists” and the boats have been “transiting alongside identified narco-trafficking routes within the Eastern Pacific and have been engaged in narco-trafficking. The strike was approved by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Southern Command stated.

Southern Command additionally posted a 47-second video that appeared to indicate three separate air strikes on vessels.

The navy started placing boats within the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean in early September, a part of what the Trump administration has described as a “non-international armed battle” in opposition to drug cartels that it has designated as terror teams.

The marketing campaign is more and more controversial, nonetheless. Democratic lawmakers and a handful of Republicans argue the Trump administration lacks authorized authority to conduct the strikes and hasn’t offered adequate proof that the boats have been really carrying narcotics.  

Meanwhile, a Sept. 2 strike that began off the marketing campaign has drawn scrutiny after studies emerged that two individuals within the vessel survived the preliminary hit however have been killed in a follow-on strike. Democrats who watched a video of the Sept. 2 operation decried the choice, and a few critics have warned that killing shipwrecked survivors might represent a battle crime. Republicans have defended the follow-on strike, arguing the survivors might have nonetheless been within the battle.

The boat strikes are a part of a broader U.S. navy buildup within the Caribbean and close to Latin America, with a number of naval vessels — together with the USS Gerald R. Ford — and fighter jets shifting to the area in latest months. 

The administration has heaped stress on the federal government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, accusing him of collaborating with drug cartels, and it has additionally argued Colombia has didn’t crack down on drug trafficking. Both nations have criticized the boat strikes, and the Venezuelan authorities has accused the Trump administration of looking for regime change.