The US military has confirmed that a strike on two vessels it alleges were carrying drugs resulted in the deaths of five people on board.
US Southern Command did not disclose the location of the operation. However, the strikes are part of ongoing US efforts over the past three months to target vessels suspected of smuggling narcotics to the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
Wednesday’s attack came a day after the US targeted what it described as a convoy of three narco-trafficking boats, killing at least three people.
Reports indicate that some survivors of these attacks abandoned their vessels, jumping into the water before follow-up strikes sank the boats. The US Coast Guard has been tasked with searching for the remaining survivors.
Since September 2, the US has carried out over 30 strikes on suspected narcotics vessels, resulting in more than 110 deaths.
Some of these operations, including so-called “double-tap” attacks, have raised concerns among lawmakers regarding adherence to rules of engagement and international law.
While the US insists that intelligence confirms these boats were involved in drug trafficking along known smuggling routes, it has not publicly provided evidence of narcotics aboard the vessels.
The strikes are part of what the Trump administration terms a “war on drugs,” described legally as a non-international armed conflict with traffickers—though some experts question whether such operations comply with the laws governing armed conflict.
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