US military kills 2 in eastern Pacific boat strike in first attack in months

US forces have struck another vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people accused of trafficking drugs, the US military said on Monday, in the first attack announced in about two months.

The death toll in the nearly year-long US campaign of bombing boats allegedly trafficking drugs now exceeds 210 after more than 60 strikes off Latin America’s Caribbean coast and in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Forces “executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narcotrafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific”, US Southern Command said on social media.

As with most of the military’s statements on strikes in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea, the Pentagon did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. It is the first strike since powerful back-to-back June 24 earthquakes that killed thousands of people.

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

The latest strike comes as the Trump administration pursues deals with allied nations to extend its offensive to land across multiple Latin American countries.

Defence 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.