One man has died in a new US airstrike on a speedboat and two survivors were left at sea in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the US armed forces announced yesterday (Tuesday), as part of an ongoing but controversial campaign in the name of fighting drug trafficking with at least 193 deaths so far.
“An Aryan drug lord was killed during this action and there were two survivors.” he reported via X, using his standard terminology for operations of the kind, the joint command of the US armed forces responsible for the Latin American and Caribbean region (SOUTHCOM, “southern command”), quoting “declassified” black-and-white video, 19 seconds long, capturing the strike and destruction of the ship. It added that the US Coast Guard was “immediately” alerted to activate the “search and rescue system” to retrieve survivors.
The SOUTHCOM, however, did not specify whether the two survivors were indeed rescued. No survivors can be seen in the video.
The U.S. Coast Guard did not respond when the AFP tried to contact her for comment.
Airstrikes of this kind are being conducted from September 2025 as part of what is being presented by Washington as part of a “war” against drug-trafficking cartels from Latin America to the US market–which President Donald Trump’s administration has called after taking on several Latin American gangs “terrorist” organizations. Their death toll now stands at at least 193, according to a French News Agency count based on U.S. announcements.
The Trump administration has never presented evidence that the targeted vessels were actually involved in illegal activities. The legality of the strikes, in international or foreign territorial waters, is disputed; experts and UNUNcomplain that extrajudicial killings are being committed.
According to US MMEs, an internal Pentagon watchdog “will investigate” whether these strikes in the Pacific and Caribbean are legal. According to NBCNBC News, it will verify whether the rules of the “six-phase targeting cycle” of the U.S. armed forces were followed.
These “phases” include from identifying and defining objectives to assessing the wounds, going through the analysis of information gathered and making a final decision.
