WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said it carried out a strike Wednesday on a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea, killing four people, as the Trump administration pushes forward witha monthslong campaignagainst alleged traffickers in Latin America whilewaging a war against Iran.
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The latest attack brings the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military to at least 163 since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls "narcoterrorists" in early September.
As with most of the military's statements on the dozens of strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, U.S. Southern Command said it targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. A video posted on X showed a boat moving across the water before it was engulfed in a bright explosion.
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President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in "armed conflict" with cartels in Latin America and hasjustified the attacksas a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing "narcoterrorists."
Criticshave questioned the overall legalityof the boat strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the U.S.over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.
The boat strikes have continued in Latin America even as the U.S. military has focused on operations in the Middle East, where American warships and planes have been pounding Iran with strikes and additional Marines plussoldiers from the 82nd Airborne Divisionare either preparing to deploy or on their way to the region.