WASHINGTON — The U.S. military struck a vessel in the Caribbean on Sunday, killing four people whom U.S. Southern Command said were involved in narcotics trafficking, the latest operation in a year-long campaign against vessels the Trump administration says are carrying illegal drugs.
Southern Command said intelligence had confirmed that the go-fast vessel was involved in trafficking and was traveling along established smuggling routes. The command released video showing a moving boat followed by an explosion.
The military did not identify the four people killed, disclose the vessel’s nationality or provide public evidence that drugs were aboard. It also did not release a precise location for the operation.
The attack is part of a campaign that began in September 2025 and has now killed at least 235 people in about 70 strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, according to an Associated Press count.
The administration has argued that drug cartels pose a national-security threat and has characterized the campaign as an armed conflict with groups it calls narcoterrorists. Human-rights experts and other critics have questioned the legal basis for the operations.
Sunday’s strike was carried out by Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere under the direction of Southern Command.
