US military kills five 'narco-terrorists' in eastern Pacific boat strike, taking Trump's campaign death toll past 240
A go-fast vessel erupts into a fireball in the eastern Pacific, in a strike US Southern Command described as targeting "narco-terrorists" — though no evidence was provided identifying the five killed or their cartel…
Tuesday's strike — the 72nd known attack since Trump launched the campaign in September 2025 — hit a stationary go-fast vessel on established drug-trafficking routes, with SOUTHCOM releasing video showing the boat erupting into a fireball. The five dead were described as "narco-terrorists" by US Southern Command, though no evidence was provided identifying them or their cartel affiliation. Relatives of others killed in previous strikes have said their loved ones were fishermen, not traffickers.
A senior Pentagon adviser compared Latin American cartels to al-Qaeda and ISIS as the Santo Domingo coalition forum approved a new campaign strategy.
Legal scholars and rights groups argue the strikes amount to extrajudicial killings, targeting people who posed no immediate threat to the United States.
Maritime trafficking routes have fallen 64% in the Western Caribbean since the operation began, according to Pentagon figures — but critics note fentanyl overwhelmingly enters the US over land from Mexico.
