The US Southern Command executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.

According to the military, the strike occurred on 23 August, killing two people. It marked the first since powerful back-to-back 24 June earthquakes in Venezuela killed thousands of people.

Overall statistics

This attack is part of the US campaign of bombing alleged drug boats off Latin America's Caribbean coast and in the eastern Pacific Ocean. To date, there have been 67 strikes, killing 223 people. Southern Command says the campaign has resulted in the destruction of 64 speedboats, three "low-profile" ships, and a semisubmersible craft.

Latest incident

The command said on social media that forces "executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narcotrafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific". As with most of the military's statements, Southern Command did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs.

Gen Francis Donovan, who leads US Southern Command, said: "We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists – disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region."

Expansion plans

The latest strike comes as the Trump administration pursues deals with allied nations to extend its offensive to land across multiple Latin American countries. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a visit to Panama this month that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the US to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil. Guatemala denied reaching such a deal.

Ecuador launched similar missions with the US in March.

Rescue efforts

Since the campaign began, many have survived, but most of them have never been recovered. Southern Command said there have been more than 20 search and rescue efforts overall, almost all of which were unsuccessful.

According to data compiled from the command's social media posts, the strikes have generated 28 survivors with only three people ever being rescued – one person during a strike in March who was transferred to the Costa Rican Coast Guard, and two wounded people who were later repatriated to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia.

First strike and legal issues

The very first strike in September 2025 left two survivors who were killed in a second, follow-up strike. When that became public, it drew concern from some lawmakers and those who study military law. The White House insisted it was done "in self-defense" to ensure the boat was destroyed and in accordance with armed conflict laws.

But some legal scholars said a second strike killing survivors would have been illegal under any circumstance, armed conflict or not.

Political context

Donald Trump has said the US 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 have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the US over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.

Review

The Pentagon's watchdog said in May that it plans to look into whether the US military followed an established targeting framework when carrying out the strikes. However, the evaluation is focused specifically on what's known as the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle and not on the legality of the strikes, the inspector general's office said.