The U.S. military said it attacked a suspected drug smuggling ship in the Caribbean on Sunday, killing four people, as the Trump administration continued a year-long campaign targeting suspected drug smuggling in Latin America.
The latest attack brings to at least 235 the number of U.S. military personnel killed in ship attacks since the U.S. government began a crackdown on so-called “narco-terrorists” in September 2025. Like most military statements about attacks in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean, U.S. Southern Command said they were targeting suspected drug traffickers along known smuggling routes.
The military provided no evidence that the ship was transporting drugs. A video posted on X showed the explosion destroying a moving vessel, which the military said was a fast vessel.
The Trump administration is seeking to reach deals with allies to expand its offensive to multiple Latin American countries. During a visit to Panama in August, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the United States to conduct joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil. Guatemala denies such a deal. Ecuador Similar tasks were launched March with the United States.
President Trump said the United States is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels in Latin America and called the attacks a necessary escalation to stop the flow of drugs into the United States and the overdose deaths that claim American lives. But his government has provided little evidence to support its claims of killing the smugglers.