US military blows up suspected drug boat in eastern Pacific, killing two; video shows moment of explosion

Posted on by Taiwo Adebulu

3 min readMay 28, 2026 02:34 PM IST

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The US military hit a vessel suspected of transporting drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Wednesday (May 27), killing two men.

US Southern Command released video footage on its official social media handle, showcasing a boat resting on the water before being struck by an explosion, with smoke and flames rising from the vessel afterwards.

“On May 27, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Two male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed,” US Southern Command said in a post on X.

This comes a day after US forces carried out a strike on a suspected drug vessel in the eastern Pacific. The attack killed one man; however left two survivors.

Southern Command said it “immediately notified the US Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors”.

The Trump administration’s campaign targeting alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters, including the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea, has killed at least 196 people since early September.

The US military has, however, not publicly provided evidence that the boats carried narcotics.

Last week, the Pentagon watchdog said that it will review whether the US military followed targeting protocols during strikes on alleged drug-smuggling vessels.

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The six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle comprises a military commander’s intent, target development, analysis, decision, execution and assessment.

The Pentagon inspector general’s office said the review was “self-initiated” and would not focus on the legality of the strikes.

The Trump administration, earlier, said that the United States was at war against the drug cartels of Latin America.

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