Americas
US strikes on 2 alleged drugs boats kill 5, leave 1 survivor
Stars and Stripes
April 13, 2026
U.S. forces struck two more alleged drug boats in the Eastern Pacific on April 11, 2026, killing five, according to U.S. Southern Command. (U.S. Southern Command)
U.S. forces struck two more alleged drug boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing five, according to U.S. Southern Command.
Two were killed and one survived in the first strike. The second strike killed three. The Coast Guard was notified immediately to begin a search-and-rescue mission for the survivor.
The attacks on Saturday raise the death toll to at least 168 people since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narcotrafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narcotrafficking operations,” SOUTHCOM said in a statement.
SOUTHCOM posted a 33-second video showing the successive strikes. No U.S. forces were harmed in the operation.
Saturday’s strikes were the first since March 25.
Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump designated several drug cartels as terrorist organizations, including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua. His administration has asserted that the U.S. is in an “armed conflict” with cartels and will treat their members as “unlawful combatants.” The administration, however, has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”