Image from a February 5, 2026 attack by US forces in the eastern Pacific. Credit: Handout / AFP / Profimedia
The US military said Tuesday it had attacked three vessels “involved in narcotics trafficking operations” in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, killing all 11 people on board.
“Information confirmed that the vessels were transiting known narcotics trafficking routes and were involved in narcotics trafficking operations,” the US military's Southern Command said in a statement about the three attacks Monday night, according to CNN.
“During these actions, 11 male narco-terrorists were killed, 4 on the first ship in the Eastern Pacific, 4 on the second ship in the Eastern Pacific, and 3 on the third ship in the Caribbean Sea. No members of the US military were injured,” the command also stated.
At least 135 people killed in attacks against 'drug traffickers'
The US military campaign began in September, and since then a total of 135 people have been killed – some of the survivors are also believed to have died.
The latest US attack on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel took place in the Caribbean on Friday and killed three people, according to the Southern Command.
In the fall, the Trump administration issued a classified legal opinion that justified lethal strikes against a secret list of at least two dozen cartels and suspected drug traffickers, framing them as enemy combatants, according to CNN.
The attacks have been criticized by some legal experts and Democrats in the US Congress, who argue that the operations amount to the killing of civilians because the United States is not in a declared war, authorized by Congress, against drug cartels.
In at least one case in September, the US military deliberately killed survivors of an initial attack on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel, leading to accusations that the US had committed a war crime and sparking congressional investigations.
Prior to the US military's campaign, the fight against drug trafficking was handled by law enforcement and the US Coast Guard, and cartel members and drug traffickers were treated as criminals with due process rights. The Coast Guard continued to seize drug-trafficking vessels and seize narcotics in the Eastern Pacific without the use of lethal force.
