US military says it struck vessel in eastern Pacific, killing two people

The US military said on Friday that it carried out a strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing two people.“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the US Southern Command said in a statement.Friday’s strike marked the first known attack since Trump ordered the US military to capture the Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.The statement said “two narco-terrorists were killed,” and a search for a survivor was under way. A video accompanying the post shows a boat moving through the water before exploding in flames.The US military has carried out more than 30 strikes against boats that it alleges were smuggling drugs off South American waters since early September. Those strikes have killed more than 100 people, according to the Associated Press, citing information from the Trump administration.The US military has more recently been focused on seizing sanctioned oil tankers with connections to Venezuela, in the wake of the surprise raid to capture Maduro and bring him to New York to face drug trafficking charges. Last week, US forces in the Caribbean Sea seized an oil tanker that Trump said had ties to Venezuela.The Trump administration has moved to control the distribution of Venezuela’s oil products globally after ousting Maduro. Since then, Trump has announced an agreement with Venezuela’s interim leaders that he said would provide up to 50m barrels of crude oil to the US. He also signed an executive order to “safeguard” Venezuelan oil revenues in US-controlled accounts.The last boat strikes occurred in late December, when the military said it struck five alleged drug-smuggling boats over two days, killing a total of eight people while others jumped overboard. Days later, the US Coast Guard suspended its search.Reuters contributed reporting