The US military raided a drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific on Friday, killing three people in the second attack this week.
“Intelligence has confirmed this vessel is transiting known narco-trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific and is engaged in narco-trafficking activities,” the US Southern Command, which oversees operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, said on Twitter/X.
According to the Southern Command, now led by General Francis Donovan, no US military forces were harmed.
Friday’s strike brought to at least 148 the total number of people killed in US raids on suspected drug-smuggling boats since September. Earlier this week, another US military attack killed 11 people, making it one of the deadliest attacks this year.
A 16-second clip posted by the Southern Command on Friday shows a single strike on the boat, which later burst into flames.
The strike was part of the Trump administration’s deployment of US forces in the region to thwart drug traffickers.
Lawmakers and legal experts are concerned about how legal the strikes are, with some arguing the Pentagon is committing extrajudicial killings and “abusing power with life-and-death consequences.”
“Under US and international law, the use of the military to kill civilians suspected of committing crimes is highly illegal,” American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) staff attorney Jeffrey Stein and ACLU director of Democracy and Technology Christopher Anders read a December statement. “Civilians are not legitimate targets, including those suspected of smuggling drugs. The Trump administration says these strikes are grounded in law, which is simply not true.”
Donovan assumed command of US Southern Command after Adm. Alvin Holsey abruptly retired due to disagreements over strike policy.
