US military strikes suspected drug boat in eastern Pacific, killing 2

The U.S. military killed two people in a strike Sunday against a suspected drug boat in the Eastern Pacific, U.S. Southern Command announced.

The death toll from the campaign of bombing boats off Latin America’s Caribbean coast and in the Eastern Pacific now exceeds 210 after more than 60 strikes.

“Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narcotrafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific,” SOUTHCOM said in a statement Monday. “Confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel’s active involvement in narco-trafficking. The operation killed two narco-terrorists.”

It was the first reported strike in the region in two months.

“We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists — disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region,” said Gen. Francis Donovan, who leads U.S. Southern Command.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week during a visit to Panama that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil.