U.S. Conducts Fifth Deadly Boat Strike in Five Days Raising the Death Toll of the Anti-Drug Campaign to 177

Three people were killed in a U.S. strike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific on Wednesday, marking the fifth deadly attack in as many days and underscoring the accelerating pace of a campaign that has drawn mounting legal scrutiny.

The latest strike brings the total toll to at least 177 killed, according to a tally compiled by the AFP news agency.

U.S. Southern Command said it carried out a "lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations," adding that "three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action." The military did not identify the group involved or provide public evidence supporting the designation but did say the vessel "was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific."

The latest operation follows a string of similar strikes over the past week. On Monday, the U.S. military reported destroying two vessels and killing five people, while a separate strike on Tuesday killed four more. The rapid succession of attacks highlights a shift in tempo, with five lethal operations reported over five consecutive days, as The Guardian points out.

The campaign, which began last year, targets vessels suspected of transporting narcotics across maritime routes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. U.S. officials have framed the effort as part of a broader fight against what the administration describes as "narco-terrorists." However, the government has not released detailed evidence in individual cases, raising questions among legal experts and rights groups.

Critics argue that the strikes may violate international law, particularly when they involve individuals who are not actively engaged in hostilities. "The administration continues to push unsubstantiated, fear-mongering claims about who these people were," the American Civil Liberties Union said in a prior statement, adding that investigations have suggested some victims were civilians, including fishermen.

International organizations and analysts have similarly questioned the legal basis for the operations. Some, like Human Rights Watch, have described them as "extrajudicial killings," arguing that the use of lethal force outside a conventional battlefield requires a clear and imminent threat while others point to the lack of transparency around how targets are identified.

Lawmakers have taken note. Democratic representatives Joaquin Castro and Sara Jacobs previously raised concerns with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, citing the lack of publicly available information about those killed, including their identities and nationalities.

Legal challenges are also underway. In January, attorneys filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of families of individuals killed in a previous strike, arguing that the "premeditated and intentional killings lack any plausible legal justification."

Originally published on Latin Times

Tags

Pentagon, Pacific Ocean, Drug trafficking