US military kills six in strike on alleged drug boat in the Eastern Pacific

The US military claims six men killed in a strike on a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.Published On 9 Mar 2026The United States military says it has killed six men in a strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the Eastern Pacific Ocean as part of a campaign against traffickers.The attack on Sunday brought the death toll to at least 157 people since early September when President Donald Trump’s administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in small vessels.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3US Senate advances resolution to curb Trump military authority in Venezuelalist 2 of 3‘Profoundly pro-American’: Machado outlines a vision for Venezuela’s futurelist 3 of 3One survivor reported, two killed in US boat strike in the eastern Pacificend of list“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” General Francis Donovan, commander of US Southern Command, posted on X with a video showing a small boat being blown up as it floated on the water.As with most of the military’s statements on the more than 40 known strikes in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea, US Southern Command said it targeted alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs.Trump has said the US is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the US. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists”.In a meeting with Latin American leaders on Saturday, Trump encouraged them to join the US in taking military action against drug-trafficking cartels and transnational gangs, which he said pose an “unacceptable threat” to the region’s security.To that end, Ecuador and the US conducted military operations this past week against organised crime groups in the South American country.