Americas
US strike on alleged drug boat in Eastern Pacific kills 3
Stars and Stripes
May 6, 2026
U.S military forces on May 5, 2026, launched a strike on an alleged drug boat in the eastern Pacific, killing three people. (U.S. Southern Command)
U.S. military forces on Tuesday launched a strike on an alleged drug boat in the eastern Pacific, killing three people, U.S. Southern Command announced Wednesday.
The attack was the second in two days; a strike Monday in the Caribbean killed two. The Trump administration’s campaign against alleged drug traffickers in the region, launched in early September, has killed at least 191 people.
“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 that included a 27-second video of the strike. No U.S. troops were harmed.
Operation Southern Spear, the Pentagon’s name for the campaign against drug trafficking in Latin America, has continued despite the U.S. military’s focus on the Middle East. Strikes under the operation have increased in frequency in recent weeks after a relative lull that followed the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January.