US Strike on Alleged Drug Boat in Eastern Pacific Kills Five, Military Says
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The U.S. military said it killed five people in a strike on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific on Tuesday, Oct. 27. U.S. Southern Command, known as SOUTHCOM, announced the strike, which The Guardian and Fox News both described as the latest in a series of such attacks.
Media tallies cited by The Guardian put the number of strikes at more than 70 since the start of President Donald Trump's second term. According to The Associated Press, as reported by Fox News, the campaign has caused at least 240 deaths.
What the military says happened
In a statement, SOUTHCOM said Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere carried out a lethal strike under its direction on a fast boat operating along established drug-trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific. The command said confirmed intelligence showed the vessel was actively involved in trafficking, and it described the five people killed as “narco-terrorists.”
Fox News reported that SOUTHCOM released video of the operation showing a boat in the water that then erupts into a large fireball. The command did not say where in the eastern Pacific the strike took place.
The administration's position
The Trump administration has said the people and boats it targets are involved in drug trafficking. The Guardian reported that Trump has said the United States is locked in armed conflict with Latin American cartels and has described the strikes as necessary to stop drugs from flowing into the country.
Fox News reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that the U.S. was increasingly seeking to conduct counter-narcotics operations together with regional allies and under their laws. He said the U.S. has the capacity to act on its own but would prefer to work with partners, whom he called the most effective route. Rubio also said the military would still destroy ships if needed, with decisions made case by case.
Fox News also reported that in recent months SOUTHCOM has released several videos of personnel stopping and boarding vessels it said were involved in trafficking, removing the crews and sinking the boats.
The critics' position
Lawmakers, legal experts and human rights groups have questioned the legal basis for using lethal military force against suspected traffickers outside a traditional battlefield, Fox News reported.
According to The Guardian, legal experts and rights groups argue that the strikes could amount to extrajudicial killings, because they have apparently targeted civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the United States.
The Guardian also reported that the administration has not offered definitive evidence for its claims of drug trafficking. Fox News similarly reported that the military has generally not identified the people killed or shown that the vessels were carrying narcotics, even as it has released videos and statements describing those aboard as terrorists or linking them to designated terrorist organizations.
What's at stake
The disagreement is about more than any single strike. It concerns whether the U.S. government may use deadly force against suspected smugglers at sea as part of what it calls an armed conflict, or whether such killings fall outside the law. Since the military has generally not named those killed or publicly documented what the boats carried, the public has little independent information to weigh the competing claims.
For readers following the story, the practical point is that the campaign is continuing. The Oct. 27 strike was added to a tally that, by the counts above, now stands at more than 70 strikes and at least 240 deaths, while the legal questions raised by lawmakers, experts and rights groups remain unresolved in the reporting from both outlets.
What is not yet known
SOUTHCOM did not say where the Oct. 27 strike occurred beyond the eastern Pacific, and the identities of the five people killed were not disclosed. The Guardian's report said more details were expected.
