THE LATEST: The US launched a strike in the Caribbean on June 21, 2026, killing two people immediately and leaving six survivors. In May, the US military launched seven strikes, killing 19 people. Since the strikes began in September 2025, there have been 66 strikes that have left 221 dead.
The deadly US alleged drug boat strikes in international waters mark a quantum leap and an aggressive escalation in US counternarcotics policy, in which drug trafficking is treated as a national security threat equivalent to terrorism.
The initial strikes, which began in early September, targeted vessels that had departed Venezuela and Colombia’s Caribbean coasts. The operation has since expanded to the eastern Pacific.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has claimed that the targeted boats were linked to criminal groups it has designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations but has provided no solid evidence for those assertions. US lawmakers, foreign officials, and independent experts have raised questions about the legality and efficacy of the strikes, while the administration has insisted it rests on sound legal and strategic footing.
Most of the information used to lay out the strikes was provided by the US government, and, in many instances, could not be corroborated.
See InSight Crime’s map of the US alleged drug boat strikes here
This is a timeline of how the strikes unfolded
66 strikes
221 killed
*This figure shows the total number of people killed, but not the total number of people on each vessel.
Last updated: June 22, 2026
June 21, 2026
A strike in the Caribbean on a boat that Southcom claimed was engaged in drug trafficking immediately killed two men and left six initial survivors, but these have not yet been reported rescued.
June 18, 2026
US forces killed three men aboard a boat in the eastern Pacific that Southcom claimed were engaged in drug trafficking.
June 16, 2026
A strike on a boat in the eastern Pacific that Southcom claimed was engaged in drug trafficking immediately killed one man and left two initial survivors, but the following day the US Coast Guard suspended the search for them.
June 3, 2026
A strike on a boat in the eastern Pacific killed two men who Southcom claimed were engaged in drug trafficking.
May 30, 2026
US forces killed three men they claimed were engaged in drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific. This was the fourth strike in five days.
May 29, 2026
Three men died during a strike in the eastern Pacific on a boat that Southcom claimed was engaged in drug trafficking, bringing the total death toll to 202.
May 27, 2026
A strike on a boat in the eastern Pacific that Southcom claimed was engaged in drug trafficking killed two men.
May 26, 2026
US forces launched a strike on a boat in the eastern Pacific that Southcom claimed was engaged in drug trafficking. One man was immediately killed, while two other people initially survived but have not yet been reported rescued.
May 8, 2026
A strike in the eastern Pacific on a boat Southcom claimed was engaged in drug trafficking initially killed two people and left one survivor. The survivor has not been reported to have been recovered.
May 5, 2026
US forces killed three people in the eastern Pacific traveling in a go-fast boat that Southcom claimed was involved in drug trafficking.
May 4, 2026
A strike in the Caribbean killed two aboard a go-fast boat that Southcom claimed was engaged in drug trafficking and traveling along a known drug trafficking route.
April 26, 2026
US forces killed three men aboard a boat that Southcom claimed was engaged in drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific.
April 24, 2026
A strike in the eastern Pacific, which Southcom claimed was involved in drug trafficking, killed two in the eastern Pacific.
April 19, 2026
A strike in the Caribbean killed three men aboard a boat that, according to United States Southern Command (Southcom), was transporting drugs along a known drug trafficking route.
April 15, 2026
The fifth strike in as many days killed three people aboard a go-fast boat that Southcom stated was transporting narcotics along a known drug trafficking route.
April 14, 2026
Four men died during a strike in the eastern Pacific. Southcom has provided no proof for its claim that the men were engaged in drug trafficking.
April 13, 2026
A strike in the eastern Pacific killed two men who Southcom claimed had been involved in drug trafficking.
April 11, 2026
Strikes on two boats in the eastern Pacific left six individuals dead. Three men were killed in one of the strikes, while the other instantly killed two and initially left one survivor.
March 25, 2026
A strike on a boat in the Caribbean killed four people who Southcom claimed were engaged in drug trafficking.
SEE ALSO: From Airstrikes to Cooperation: Will the ‘New Phase’ of Ecuador’s Drug War Deliver?
March 19, 2026
The US military launched a strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific off the coast of Costa Rica. Southcom initially stated that the three people on board survived, but the US Coast Guard and Costa Rican authorities later discovered a single survivor and the bodies of two other individuals killed by the strike.
March 8, 2026
A strike carried out in the eastern Pacific killed six people who Southcom claimed were engaged in drug trafficking.
February 23, 2026
Three died in a strike on a vessel in the Caribbean that Southcom claimed was engaged in drug trafficking and “operated by designated terrorist organizations.”
February 20, 2026
A strike was carried out on a vessel in the eastern Pacific that Southcom claimed was “operated by designated terrorist organizations” and engaged in drug trafficking killed three individuals.
February 16, 2026
The US military carried out lethal strikes against three alleged drug-trafficking vessels. In total, 11 people were killed: four on one vessel in the eastern Pacific, another four on a second vessel in the eastern Pacific, and three on a third vessel in the Caribbean.
February 13, 2026
The US military killed three people who were aboard a boat Southcom described as “transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean” and allegedly involved in drug trafficking.
February 9, 2026
The US targeted a speedboat in the eastern Pacific, US Southern Command announced. The strike initially killed two individuals, leaving one survivor. However, the US Coast Guard has made no announcement stating that the survivor was found.
February 5, 2026
The US Southern Command announced an attack on a vessel suspected of being linked to drug trafficking in international waters in the eastern Pacific, near Colombia. The strike killed the two crew members aboard.
January 23, 2026
A strike on a boat in the eastern Pacific killed two people aboard upon impact and initially left one survivor. US Southern Command said it had alerted the US Coast Guard to activate its search-and-rescue system. However, the survivor has not been found.
SEE ALSO: The ‘New’ US War on Organized Crime
December 31, 2025
New Year’s Eve strikes against two boats killed a total of five people. US Southern Command stated that they occurred in “known narco-trafficking routes,” but did not specify whether they occurred in the Pacific or Caribbean.
December 30, 2025
Strikes against a convoy of three boats resulted in the deaths of three people aboard one of the vessels. Eight people abandoned the other boats, US Southern Command told InSight Crime. Although Southern Command stated that the US Coast Guard was notified, the Coast Guard announced it had suspended the search for the survivors, around 400 nautical miles southwest of the Mexico-Guatemala border, on January 2, 2025.
December 29, 2025
A strike in the eastern Pacific killed two men.
December 22, 2025
One person was killed in a strike in the eastern Pacific against a “low-profile vessel,” also known as a semi-submersible vessel or “narco sub,” marking the second such vessel targeted since the strikes began.
December 18, 2025
Just a day after the previous strikes, US Southern Command announced new attacks against two alleged drug-smuggling vessels, killing five men in total: three on the first vessel and two on the second. According to US authorities, the strikes occurred along a drug trafficking route in the eastern Pacific.
December 17, 2025
US Southern Command announced they had killed four more people aboard a boat allegedly belonging to an unspecified “Designated Terrorist Organization” traveling along a drug trafficking route in the eastern Pacific. Further details were not made public.
December 15, 2025
Three strikes on boats in the eastern Pacific, which Southcom claimed were driven by “designated terrorist organizations,” killed a total of eight people.
December 4, 2025
Hegseth ordered a strike that killed four men aboard a boat traveling along what US Southern Command referred to as “a known narco-trafficking route” in the eastern Pacific.
November 15, 2025
Two days after Hegseth announced the launch of the anti-drug “Operation Southern Spear,” aimed at removing so-called “narco terrorists” from the western hemisphere, and the creation of the Joint Task Force Southern Spear, US military forces launched a strike against a boat in the eastern Pacific, killing three.
November 10, 2025
In another attack on a boat in the Caribbean, four people were killed.
November 6, 2025
Three people were killed in a new attack in the Caribbean. Hegseth announced that the vessel was operated by a terrorist organization, without specifying which one.
November 4, 2025
The US military killed two people aboard a vessel in the Pacific, which Hegseth said “was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” without providing further evidence.
November 1, 2025
Three people were killed when the US military fired a missile at a boat in the Caribbean. Hegseth did not provide further details about its origin but said US intelligence had identified the vessel as carrying a drug shipment.
October 29, 2025
Hegseth announced that a strike in the eastern Pacific killed four aboard a vessel that he stated “like all the others, was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling.”
October 27, 2025
In the deadliest day since the beginning of the deployment, US forces killed 15 during strikes against four vessels in the eastern Pacific. Mexican search and rescue authorities attempted to locate one individual who initially survived the strike. However, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum later said the search failed, and spoke out against how the United States was conducting the strikes.
October 24, 2025
Hegseth announced the first nighttime strike of the operation, which targeted what he claimed was “a vessel operated by Tren de Aragua.” Six died in the strike.
October 22, 2025
The US military killed three during the second strike in the eastern Pacific in two days.
October 17, 2025
The US military killed three aboard a boat that Hegseth claimed in a tweet was “affiliated with” the Colombian guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN), another organization the United States has designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Hegseth compared drug trafficking organizations to the terrorist group Al Qaeda, a comparison he would continue to make following later strikes, stating, “the United States military will treat these organizations like the terrorists they are—they will be hunted, and killed.”
October 16, 2025
The US military destroyed a semi-submersible vessel, known as a “narco sub,” for the first time during the operation. This was also the first strike to leave survivors. Two individuals were killed, but one Ecuadorian and one Colombian survived. The Ecuadorian, Andrés Fernando Tufiño, was released upon being returned to his home country, where authorities declined to pursue criminal charges against him. The other survivor, Jeison Obando Pérez, arrived in Colombia in need of serious medical attention and may face prosecution for drug crimes.
Trump claimed that US intelligence had confirmed the vessel was “loaded up with mostly fentanyl,” and that “at least 25,000 Americans would die” had it reached its destination. But that claim is implausible, since the strike took place in the Caribbean, not along an established fentanyl trafficking route.
October 3, 2025
Hegseth announced a strike had killed four individuals “in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela.” He claimed the vessel was “transporting substantial amounts of narcotics headed to America,” but provided no further details about the intelligence behind that assessment.
September 19, 2025
Trump announced a strike killed three individuals aboard a boat traveling on “a known narcotrafficking passage.” The strike reportedly took place around 80 nautical miles south of Beata Island in the Dominican Republic, and authorities from that country later confirmed that they had seized around a ton of cocaine that had been aboard the vessel.
September 16, 2025
Trump claimed there was an additional strike that had not been previously reported, telling reporters, “We knocked off actually three boats, not two. But you saw two,” without providing more details. It is unclear if he was referring to another strike that would be announced later.
September 15, 2025
Trump announced a second strike, which he said killed three individuals he referred to as “narcoterrorists from Venezuela.” Colombian President Gustavo Petro later claimed that one of those killed, Colombian citizen Alejandro Carranza, was a fisherman, although Colombian media reported that he had been arrested in 2016 for his involvement in the theft of guns from a police warehouse.
September 2, 2025
The US military launched its first strike, targeting a small boat in the eastern Caribbean that had departed the Venezuelan state of Sucre. Trump announced the strike killed 11 people who he claimed were members of Tren de Aragua, one of the groups designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. The alleged drug vessel was headed to meet a larger ship bound for Suriname, according to the admiral who oversaw the operation.
66 as of June 21, 2026.
221 as June 21, 2026.
September 2, 2025
June 21, 2026
June 18, 2026
