The US military destroyed two boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Saturday, killing five people and leaving one survivor. US Southern Command said the vessels were “transiting along known narco-trafficking routes.”
The strikes bring the total number of people killed in the campaign to at least 168 since September 2025. Why it matters: the escalating death toll has drawn growing scrutiny from Congress and legal scholars who question whether the strikes meet the legal threshold for use of military force.
The administration’s case
President Donald Trump has framed the campaign as an “armed conflict” against cartels in Latin America, arguing it is necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and reduce fatal overdoses. The military has struck dozens of boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific since the programme began.
The critics’ response
The military did not provide evidence that Saturday’s boats were carrying drugs, consistent with a pattern that has drawn objections from civil liberties groups and some members of Congress. According to NPR, the administration has offered little public evidence to support claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”
Critics also question the campaign’s effectiveness. Most fentanyl that causes fatal overdoses in the US is trafficked overland from Mexico, not by sea. The boat strikes target a route that accounts for a small fraction of the drug supply chain.
What happens next
Several congressional committees have requested briefings on the legal authority underpinning the strikes. The administration has so far declined to provide a formal legal opinion justifying the use of lethal military force against suspected traffickers outside a declared war zone.