US Military Kills Three in Attacks on Suspected Smuggling Boats

Attacks Occurred in the Pacific Ocean

The United States military has announced that it killed at least three individuals in a recent attack on boats suspected of drug smuggling and has ordered the Coast Guard to initiate search operations for survivors. The Southern Command's statement did not specify the location of the attacks, although they have previously occurred in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific.

A video posted on social media by Southern Command shows boats moving in tight formation as part of a convoy along known drug trafficking routes. The military stated that "they transferred narcotics between the three vessels before the attacks." Following the assault, three "narcoterrorists" from the first boat were killed, according to military sources. The remaining narcoterrorists abandoned the other vessels, jumping overboard before they were sunk.

The military notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate their search and rescue system but did not provide further details regarding the fate of those on the other boats. Notably, the call to launch a rescue operation comes after the U.S. military faced criticism for a previous attack that resulted in the deaths of survivors from a September intervention.

According to Reuters, an American official confirmed that eight individuals abandoned the boats and are being searched for in the Pacific. The Coast Guard reported that it has dispatched a C-130 plane to look for survivors and is collaborating with vessels in the area.

These attacks have resulted in a total of 33 confirmed attacks on boats and at least 110 deaths since September, according to figures presented by the Trump administration, which justified these actions as necessary to reduce the flow of drugs into the U.S.