Americas
Another US strike on alleged drug boat kills 3
Stars and Stripes
April 16, 2026
U.S. forces launched a strike on April 15, 2026, on a suspected in the Eastern Pacific, killing three, U.S. Southern Command said. It was the third strike in three days. (U.S. Southern Command)
U.S. forces launched a strike on Wednesday on a suspected drug boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing three, U.S. Southern Command said. It was the third strike in three days.
The latest strike brings the death toll to 178 since the operations began in early September.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narcotrafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narcotrafficking operations,” SOUTHCOM said in a statement.
SOUTHCOM posted a 20-second video showing the strike. No U.S. forces were harmed in the operation.
After only three strikes in March, U.S. forces have ramped up the attacks in the past five days, starting with two strikes Saturday on separate vessels that left five people dead and one survivor. The U.S. Coast Guard suspended the search for the survivor.
Operation Southern Spear, the Pentagon’s name for the campaign against drug trafficking in Latin America, continues despite the U.S. military’s focus on the Middle East and the conflict with Iran.
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.”