U.S. strike on alleged drug-smuggling boat kills two in Pacific: military

U.S. military strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Pacific kill two, amid ongoing narco-terrorism campaign against Venezuela.

The U.S. military said on Thursday (February 5) it killed two alleged drug traffickers in a strike on a boat in the eastern Pacific, bringing the death toll from Washington's campaign to at least 128.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration began targeting alleged smuggling boats in early September, insisting it is effectively at war with alleged "narco-terrorists" operating out of Venezuela.

However, administration officials have provided no definitive evidence that the vessels are involved in drug trafficking, prompting heated debate about the legality of the operations that have expanded from the Caribbean to the Pacific.

"Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," the U.S. Southern Command said in a post on X on Thursday.

"No U.S. military forces were harmed" in the operation, the post said.

It was the second reported U.S. strike on an alleged drug boat in the region since the January 3 capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, who had said the U.S. campaign of strikes was aimed at regime change in the South American country.