Death toll in U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats rises to 126

U.S. military strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific have resulted in a death toll of 126.

The death toll from the Trump administration's strikes on alleged drug boats is up to 126 people, with the inclusion of those presumed dead after being lost at sea, the U.S. military confirmed on Monday (January 26, 2026).

The figure includes 116 people who were killed immediately in at least 36 attacks carried out since early September in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, U.S. Southern Command said. Ten others are believed dead because searchers did not locate them following a strike.

Eight of the presumed dead had jumped off boats when American forces attacked a trio of vessels accused of trafficking drugs on December 30, the military said.

The number was not released previously, though the military said when announcing those strikes that the U.S. Coast Guard had searched for survivors. The two other people presumed dead were on boats that were attacked on October 27 and last on Friday.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists."

Critics have questioned the overall legality of the strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the US overland from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.