The U.S. military said it struck a drug-trafficking vessel in the Eastern Pacific on April 24, killing two people, in the latest action under the Trump administration’s campaign to combat drug smuggling.
U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said in a post on X that a “lethal kinetic strike” was launched after intelligence confirmed the vessel was moving along known drug-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.
Intelligence indicated that the vessel was operated by “designated terrorist organizations,” according to SOUTHCOM, which oversees U.S. military operations across Latin America and the Caribbean. The command did not specify which terrorist group it was referring to.
“Two male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed,” the military said.
Numerous similar strikes have been carried out in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific since September 2025 as the Trump administration seeks to curb the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.
The military said it directed the U.S. Coast Guard to carry out search-and-rescue operations following the attack.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has also expressed concern about the operations, urging the United States in a December 2025 report to ensure that all maritime security operations “are consistent with international human rights obligations, particularly regarding the protection of the right to life, the use of force, due process guarantees, and accountability mechanisms.”
The administration said that President Donald Trump has determined that the United States is in “a non-international armed conflict” with cartels and instructed the Department of War to take actions based on “the law of armed conflict.”
“Therefore, the President determined these cartels are non-state armed groups, designated them as terrorist organizations, and determined that their actions constitute an armed attack against the United States.”
Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
