Strike on alleged drug boat kills 3 in Caribbean Sea, U.S. military says

The U.S. military said it launched another strike on a boat it accused of ferrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea, killing three people Sunday.

The Trump administration’s campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters has persisted since early September and killed at least 181 people in total. Other strikes have taken place in the eastern Pacific Ocean. At least 54 vessels have been targeted in the campaign. 

Despite the Iran war, the series of strikes has ramped up again in the past week or so, showing that the administration’s aggressive measures to stop what it calls “narcoterrorism” in the Western Hemisphere are not letting up. The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs.

A spokesperson for U.S. Southern Command has previously told CBS News: “For operational security reasons, we cannot discuss specific sources or methods.”

The attacks began as the U.S. built up its largest military presence in the region in generations and came months ahead of the raid in January that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. He was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty.

In the latest attack Sunday, U.S. Southern Command repeated previous statements by saying it had targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. It posted a video on X showing a boat moving along the water before a massive explosion engulfed the vessel in flames.

President Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

Critics, meanwhile, have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes.