U.S. military attacks alleged drug-smuggling boat in Caribbean, killing 4

On Tuesday, the U.S. military launched an attack on a boat believed to be involved in drug smuggling in the Caribbean Sea, resulting in the death of four individuals, according to U.S. Southern Command. This marks the 228th person killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military since the Trump administration began targeting alleged narcoterrorists almost a year ago.

While the military claimed to have received "confirmed intelligence" that the vessel was actively involved in narco-trafficking, they did not provide evidence to support this claim. The attack occurred just two days after another strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, which killed two people accused of trafficking drugs.

This follows a pause in the U.S. campaign against alleged smugglers that lasted over two months. The Trump administration is currently negotiating agreements with allied nations to expand its offensive into land across multiple Latin American countries. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that Colombia, Guatemala, and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil, although Guatemala later denied reaching such an agreement.

Ecuador has also engaged in similar missions with the U.S. in March. President Trump has labeled the U.S. as being in "armed conflict" with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as necessary to combat drug trafficking and prevent fatal overdoses in the United States. However, the administration has offered little evidence to substantiate its claims of killing smugglers.