U.S. officials have confirmed 20 strikes on suspected drug smugglers in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since the Trump administration launched a campaign against alleged traffickers in September.
The death toll has risen to 80, with two survivors being apprehended and one person who initially survived not being found after several days of searching in Mexican waters.
U.S. officials have confirmed 20 strikes on suspected drug smugglers in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since the Trump administration launched a campaign against alleged traffickers in September.
The death toll has risen to 80, with two survivors being apprehended and one person who initially survived not being found after several days of searching in Mexican waters.
So far, 11 of the strikes have occurred in the Caribbean Sea, while the remaining nine took place in the eastern Pacific. “These narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than Al-Qaeda, and they will be treated the same,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a post on X.
President Donald Trump has justified the strikes by saying the United States is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. The administration has not provided evidence or further details.
U.N. experts said the lethal attacks on vessels raise serious concerns about potential international crimes: “These attacks appear to be unlawful killings carried out by order of a Government, without judicial or legal process allowing due process of law.”
These are all the strikes announced by the White House and Hegseth since the campaign began in September:
Nov. 12. Officials familiar with the matter confirmed that the U.S. military conducted its 20th strike on an alleged drug-trafficking vessel in the Caribbean, killing four.
Nov. 9. Hegseth disclosed on social media a new attack in the eastern Pacific had targeted two boats, raising the death toll from Trump’s counternarcotics campaign to more than 75.
Nov. 6. The U.S. military carried out a strike, killing three people. “The vessel was trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean and was struck in international waters,” Hegseth said.
Nov. 4. A strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs was conducted in the eastern Pacific the same day an aircraft carrier began heading to the region in a new expansion of military firepower.
Nov. 1. Hegseth said on social media that the U.S. had carried out a lethal strike on a vessel operated by a U.S.-designated terrorist organization in the Caribbean Sea.
Oct. 29. The U.S. military destroyed another vessel in the eastern Pacific killing four males on board whom Hegseth described as “narco-terrorists.”
Oct. 27. The United States carried out three strikes on four vessels suspected of carrying drugs in the eastern Pacific, killing at least 14 people. It marked the campaign’s highest toll in a single day.
Oct. 24. Six people were killed overnight in the 10th reported strike on a boat alleged to be involved in drug smuggling in the Caribbean. Hegseth said the operation targeted a vessel carrying members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.
Oct. 22. Hegseth announced another lethal strike on a vessel in international waters of the eastern Pacific, killing three men.
Oct. 21. A military strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific marked an expansion of the Trump administration’s deadly counternarcotics campaign that until now focused on suspected trafficking in the Caribbean.
Oct. 17. Hegseth disclosed a new strike in the Caribbean alleging that the boat was affiliated with a Colombian guerrilla group known by the initials ELN (Ejército de Liberación Nacional).
Oct. 16. Trump said the U.S. struck a sixth suspected drug-carrying vessel in the Caribbean, killing two people and leaving two survivors who were on the semisubmersible craft.
Oct. 14. The U.S. military killed six alleged drug smugglers off the coast of Venezuela. Trump said that Hegseth had ordered the strike “under my Standing Authorities as Commander-in-Chief.”
Oct. 3. A deadly attack on an alleged drug boat near Venezuela, killing four people. Congress received notification that week that Trump has determined the United States is in “armed conflict” with the drug cartels.
Sept. 19. The U.S. military struck a vessel in international waters overseen by U.S. Southern Command, Trump said. The incident, the third of its kind, killed three people and raised questions about the legality of these attacks.
Sept. 15. The U.S. forces hit another alleged drug boat as the president signaled that his administration was preparing to take military action against Latin American cartels that move narcotics over land.
Sept. 2. The Trump administration began a military campaign targeting suspected drug traffickers with a strike on suspected smugglers in the Caribbean Sea that killed 11 people.
Editing by Adrián Blanco Ramos.
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