The U.S. military said Sunday it carried out a deadly strike on another boat in the Caribbean that officials alleged was transporting narco-traffickers, leaving two people dead.
U.S. Southern Command said the operation was a “lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” ordered by Southern Command chief Marine Corps Gen. Francis L. Donovan.
Citing intelligence, the military said the boat had been “transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean” and was involved in drug-trafficking activity.
A U.S. military strike on a vessel in the Caribbean on June 21, 2026. (U.S. Southern Command)
Six men survived the strike, in addition to the two men who were killed, officials said.
“Following the engagement, USSOUTHCOM immediately notified U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors,” the military said in its statement.
The operation marks the latest strike the Trump administration has described as part of an effort to target alleged narco-terrorists. Since September, such strikes have killed more than 200 people.
The military said intelligence indicated the vessel was traveling through established Caribbean drug-smuggling corridors and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. (U.S. Southern Command)
The Pentagon has refused to release the identities of those killed in the strikes since last fall or provide evidence of drugs on board.
The administration has been scrutinized in recent months over the strikes by Democrats and even some Republicans, including Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has raised concerns about killing people without due process and the possibility of killing innocent people.
RAND PAUL SAYS GOP COLLEAGUES ‘DON’T GIVE A S‑‑T ABOUT THESE PEOPLE IN THE BOATS’: THEY ‘SAY THEY’RE PRO-LIFE’
The Pentagon has refused to release the identities of those killed in the strikes since last fall or provide evidence of drugs on board. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
“I look at my colleagues who say they’re pro-life, and they value God’s inspiration in life, but they don’t give a s‑‑- about these people in the boats,” Paul said in January. “Are they terrible people in the boats? I don’t know. They’re probably poor people in Venezuela and Colombia.”
The senator previously cited Coast Guard statistics that show a significant percentage of boats boarded on suspicion of drug trafficking are innocent.
The attacks have also been denounced by human rights groups as “extrajudicial killings.”
