US strikes on alleged drug boats in Pacific and Caribbean
The U.S. military, under the Trump administration, has carried out strikes on vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea that it alleges are involved in drug trafficking. The campaign has killed scores of people, including five in one October 2026 strike, and has drawn criticism from United Nations human rights experts who say the attacks may violate international law and could constitute crimes against humanity. U.S. officials have defended the strikes as a way to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.
Current state
The U.S. military's campaign of strikes on alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea continues. Its latest strike, on 27 October 2026 in the eastern Pacific, killed five people, raising the reported cumulative death toll to 243 since September 2025. A UN special rapporteur has found reasonable grounds to believe the attacks constituted crimes against humanity and were not acts of self-defence.
5 sources · 5 reports · Updated 27 Oct 2026
What changed
US strike kills five in eastern Pacific, campaign toll rises to 243
A 27 October 2026 US military strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific killed five people, raising the reported cumulative death toll of the campaign to 243 since September 2025.
Developments
- Key development
On 27 October 2026, a U.S. military strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific killed five people, bringing the reported campaign death toll to 243 since September 2025.
- Key development
On 21 September 2026, a UN special rapporteur concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe the U.S. boat strikes constituted crimes against humanity and were not acts of self-defence.
- Earlier development
In late August 2026, the U.S. military resumed strikes after a pause of more than two months, with the reported cumulative toll reaching 223 people killed in 67 strikes.
- Earlier development
The U.S. military launched Operation Southern Spear in early September 2025 to target alleged drug-smuggling vessels.
Current story coverage
Earlier coverage
- U.S. Strikes on Alleged Drug Boats Could Be Criminal, U.N. Expert Says A U.N. human rights investigator, like other experts, concluded that the Trump administration’s deadly attacks violate international law, and said the strikes could be crimes against humanity.
- US strikes a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing 2 people in first attack in months US Southern Command has struck another vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing two accused of trafficking drugs After a pause of more than two months, the US military announced Monday that it once again carried out a strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people accused of trafficking drugs. It brings the overall death toll to 223 people killed in 67 strikes during the nearly year-long US campai…