US military declares five alleged drug traffickers killed in Pacific Ocean

The US military said it killed on Thursday five more alleged drug traffickers aboard two vessels in the Pacific Ocean, bringing the divisive campaign’s death toll to over 100.

The Trump administration has carried out such strikes in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since September but has provided no evidence that the boats are involved in drug trafficking, prompting debate about the operations’ legality.

The latest strikes hit two vessels in international waters that were “engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the US Southern Command said on X.

Three people were killed in the first vessel and two in the second vessel, it said.