2 dead in U.S. military strike on alleged drug boat in eastern Pacific

Military2 dead in U.S. military strike on alleged drug boat in eastern PacificThe number of dead in U.S. attacks on alleged drug traffickers on the high seas now stands at 170.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Smoke rises from a boat after a U.S. strike Monday in the Eastern Pacific.U.S. Southern CommandShareAdd NBC News to GoogleApril 13, 2026, 8:29 PM EDTBy Mosheh Gains and Dennis RomeroTwo people were killed in the latest U.S. military strike on a boat in the eastern Pacific said to be involved in drug smuggling, U.S. Southern Command said Monday.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The strike was directed by Gen. Fancis Donovan and took out a vessel that Southern Command said was operated by a U.S.-designated terror group involved in brining illicit drugs to the United States. A more precise location for the strike was not provided. The deceased were characterized only as male "narco-terrorists," according to a statement from the command.Black-and-white video from the perspective of an aircraft overhead was posted with Southern Command's statement on X and showed what appeared to be a panga or small fishing boat being hit by unknown munitions from the sky, leaving it smoking afterward.The attack was part of an ongoing enforcement operation against alleged drug traffickers in the eastern Pacific, off Latin American coastlines and in the Caribbean, called Joint Task Force Southern Spear, Southern Command said."Applying total systemic friction on the cartels," it said, adding that no U.S. forces were harmed. President Donald Trump's administration has carried out 50 such strikes in his second term, according to an NBC News tally. They have taken out 51 vessels and have killed 170 people, often described by military officials as combatants and narco-terrorists.The Trump administration has designated major drug cartels as terror groups that it says are sometimes integrated into Latin Ame...