U.S. military says Caribbean boat strike killed four

Strike in the Caribbean

U.S. Southern Command said the military attacked a boat suspected of carrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea on Saturday, killing four people. It said the vessel was operating along routes known for smuggling but did not publicly show evidence that drugs were aboard.

A video posted by the command on X showed what appeared to be a boat moving through the water before a flash, CBS News reported.

The attack brought the reported death toll from the U.S. campaign to at least 231 people across 69 boat strikes in Latin America. The Trump administration began targeting people it calls “narcoterrorists” about a year ago, with operations in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean.

Campaign extends across Latin America

President Donald Trump has said the United States is in an armed conflict with Latin American cartels. He has described the military campaign as necessary to reduce the flow of drugs into the United States and prevent overdose deaths. His administration has released little evidence establishing that the people killed in the strikes were smugglers.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in August that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to joint U.S. military operations against criminal groups within their borders. Guatemala denied agreeing to such an arrangement. Ecuador began similar missions with the United States in March.

In August, U.S. forces worked with Ecuador to board and sink a vessel that Southern Command said had served as a refueling station for drug-smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific.

Some lawmakers and legal experts have questioned whether the strikes are lawful. Scrutiny has also focused on the first attack, on Sept. 2, 2025, when the military struck the same boat twice. The U.S. military said 11 people died in that operation.