The U.S. military said it carried out another strike on a vessel in the Caribbean Sea on Monday, killing two people in the latest escalation of a campaign targeting suspected drug-trafficking operations in Latin American waters.
According to U.S. Southern Command, the vessel was traveling along what officials described as known narcotics smuggling routes. The command said the boat was engaged in trafficking activity. A video released by the military showed a boat moving across the water before being destroyed in an explosion.
On May 4, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking… pic.twitter.com/8S1feXpSiL
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) May 5, 2026
The strike is part of a broader operation that began in early September and has resulted in more than 50 similar attacks across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean. The campaign has killed at least 188 people, according to U.S. figures.
Despite ongoing conflict involving Iran, the pace of these operations has increased in recent weeks, signaling the administration’s continued focus on combating what it calls “narcoterrorism” in the Western Hemisphere. No U.S. personnel were injured in Monday’s strike.
President Donald Trump has defended the military actions, describing them as necessary to curb drug flows into the United States and reduce overdose deaths. In a letter to Congress last fall, he said the U.S. is engaged in a “non-international armed conflict with these designated terror organizations,” The Hill reported.
“The United States has now reached a critical point where we must use force in self-defense and defense of others against the ongoing attacks by these designated terrorist organizations,” Trump wrote.
The operations intensified following a buildup of U.S. forces in the region and preceded a January raid that led to the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, as previously reported on by The Dallas Express. Maduro was taken to New York to face drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty.
While the administration maintains the strikes are aimed at disrupting criminal networks, critics have raised concerns about the lack of publicly presented evidence and questioned the legality of the campaign.
The military has continued to characterize the targeted vessels as being linked to trafficking groups, but has not released additional details about the individuals killed in Monday’s operation.
